Hagrid Saves the World
by BeepKeeper
Summary: A real prophecy involves Rubeus Hagrid. In Harry's second year, the giant spends his days planting a hedge around Hogwarts. Story takes dark turn every once in a while with "wait... what?" Lots of bashing of Dumbledore, McGonagall, Fudge, and Umbridge. There'll be seven parts.
1. Chapter 1

Hagrid Saves the World

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

Story Line: A new prophecy – a real prophecy – is made by Trelawny that involves Rubeus Hagrid. For the whole of Harry Potter's second year, the gentle giant spends his days planting a hedge in the Forbidden Forest and then around Hogwarts. Harry tries to hide from the whispers 'heir of Slytherin' by hanging out with Hagrid.

This story takes a dark turn every once in a while. Lots of bashing of Dumbledore, McGonagall, Fudge, and Umbridge. (And that's lot of fun too). This was supposed to be a short story but characters kept popping up and leaping into the plot line. It will be seven parts when complete.

Hagrid Part 1: Dealing with Prophecy

**27 August 1992 **

At lunchtime, just days before the start of the new school year, the faculty was surprised to see Sybil Trelawny wandering about the halls of the school, seeking the front door. As far as any of them knew, she never set foot outside the school except under the close eye of Albus Dumbledore who took her to visit with her sister in Bristol for two months every summer.

Filius heard the woman muttering, "Must find him… find… Must find him today…"

"Sybil, are you well?" asked Professor Flitwick.

"Must find…" the befuddled woman moaned.

Once she stumbled across the front door, Trelawny fumbled with the doors but pushed them open enough to wander from Hogwarts and Minerva quipped, "Let her walk around for a while… The sun may help burn off the smell of incense…"

Out of doors, Trelawny stumbled along the causeway leading toward the paths to Hogsmeade. She paused with one hand on a stone wall leading back to Hogwarts and the other grasping her shawl tightly about her neck. The power of the castle still covered her, protecting her today.

"Here now, Professor Trelawny… Are you lost?" asked the kind but booming voice of Rubeus Hagrid. The half giant towered over the supposed seer with the thick glasses. She peered up at Hagrid's bushy hair and beard, so different from the long grey locks and beard of Albus Dumbledore.

"You are the one! Hear me! Remember my words!" Sybil demanded, as she grasped Hagrid's hand and with unbelievable strength pulled him down on one knee to place her lips close to his ear.

Sybil Trelawny 'saw' many different events with her inner eye but she had learned to keep most things to herself. Just over ten years before, Dumbledore took a single sentence about the betrayal by a secret keeper to ruin many lives and Sybil now simply 'babbled' to hide her true sight. Her voice changed; it grew deeper and filled with magic as she made the longest prophecy of her life.

_The future lies in your hands._

_The path forward comes from animals and magic._

_Beware the white bee. He dooms the world to rot and fear._

_Plant a wall around the place of trees and stones of knowledge._

_Find the answer in creatures magic and mundane. _

_Stand firm and plant the walls. _

_Beware the white bee. He dooms the world to rot and fear. _

Surprised by the prophecy, Hagrid stood up but noticed the witch was fainting and caught her before she hit the ground. With the divination professor in his arms, he carried her back toward the castle where he found Headmaster Dumbledore hurrying out the door.

"Hagrid, what happened? Sybil knows she can't leave the school… it isn't safe for her to be out in the world."

"She fainted… just down the way where the stone wall ends."

"Take her back inside then Hagrid. Madam Pomphrey will see to her.

"Yes, headmaster.

Once Hagrid turned the passed-out woman over to Madam Pomphrey, Dumbledore asked the half-giant, "Did she say anything to you before she passed out?"

Listening to some voice unheard by anyone else, Hagrid lied to Albus Dumbledore for the first time in his life, "She said to beware somebody named 'Weatherby'. He's going to groom the walls with rocks and fronds."

Knowing he'd never be about to read the half-giant's mind, Albus simply nodded while Minerva sighed, "Do we have anyone named Weatherby here to groom the walls with rocks and fronds? I suppose the elves do repair our stone walls and there are ferns about."

She turned to the headmaster and asked, "Shall we summon the head elf and see if any of our elves is named 'Weatherby', Professor Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore frowned; Minerva never wavered in her belief that Sybil was a fraud. Deciding quickly, he shook his head.

"The excitement of the coming year just pushed our divination professor into an episode…"

"An 'episode'?" exclaimed Minerva. "What does that mean?"

Hagrid ate his lunch quietly without much conversation with the others and quickly returned to his hut to think.

Meeting Centaurs in the Forest

While there were very few creatures that Hagrid feared in the Forbidden Forest, he always carried his crossbow with him when he ventured into the depths of the woods. Among the inhabitants of the woods were the centaurs a taciturn people who avoided the company of men and wizards. Their enmity for men began when they were tricked into migrating to Britain from Gaul by a Roman Emperor who tired of dealing with the demands of centaurs to stop settlers from taking their lands.

Retreating to the wilds of the northern portion of the island to escape Merlin and King Arthur, the centaurs created spells to repel muggles and wizards alike. In the centuries since then, the centaurs maintained the spells and barely tolerated the presence of wizards in Hogwarts, a castle built too close to their protected lands. No one really knew how large the Forbidden Forest was and how many centaurs and other creatures lived here – ministry officials who ventured deep into the forest seldom returned.

Today, Hagrid needed the advice of the centaurs; creatures who lived and breathed prophecies. He'd not thought to seek out a centaur until he discovered that the Acromantula nest of his old friend Aragog was now surrounded by a magical hedge that sound could not penetrate, let alone a half-giant only armed with a crossbow.

It was a week after the children returned to Hogwarts, and Hagrid hiked north, deep into the forest. Thus far, there'd been no sign of the centaurs when suddenly, one appeared in front of him on the path.

"Not-Wizard Hagrid, why do you venture into lands forbidden to you?" asked the tall centaur holding a bow with a notched arrow aimed at Hagrid's chest. How the hooved creature had moved through the forest so silently was a secret Hagrid didn't understand.

Bowing his head respectfully, Hagrid said, "I need a centaur's wisdom to understand a prophecy."

The centaur stared at Hagrid, pawed at the path with one hoof and then glanced at the pattern in the dirt before lowering his own bow.

"I am Ronan and today I ventured forth, seeking to find He-Who-Must-Save-Us-All. Is that you, Not-Wizard Rubeus Hagrid?" the centaur demanded to know. "Will you save centaurs, unicorns and the other creatures of the Forbidden Forest?"

Suddenly Hagrid understood why little Harry grimaced whenever anyone called him the Boy-Who-Lived.

"I don't know… but I think that I must try."

Ronan stared again before commanding, "Tell us the prophecy."

Hagrid noticed that six more centaurs had moved silently from the depths of the woods – old and young, male and female, warrior, wizard, healer; a combination he recognized from ancient times when men and magic were beginning in this land.

"Begin Not-Wizard," commanded an old female centaur, the leg bone of a unicorn held in her hand, much like a witch would hold her wand.

Nodding his head, Hagrid repeated Trelawney's prophecy.

_The future lies in your hands._

_The path forward comes from animals and magic._

_Beware the white bee. He dooms the world to rot and fear._

_Plant a wall around the place of trees and stones of knowledge._

_Find the answer in creatures magic and mundane. _

_Stand firm and plant the walls. _

_Beware the white bee. He dooms the world to rot and fear. _

Now, the seven centaurs came closer and reached out their hands to touch Hagrid's head – he knelt to allow the youngest centaur, a young female with kind eyes, to touch to his head. The seven moved back and Hagrid remained with one knee on the forest floor.

"_You must save the forest, Not-Wizard."_ These words came from the oldest centaur, a male with a long grey mane and a short staff of oak in his hand rather than a bow. Hagrid realized this was a centaur who wielded spells and charms – a creature the ministry refused to believe still existed.

"_You must save the future for all magic kind,"_ stated the old female centaur, waving her wand made of bone through the air and sending a dusting of bright lights that settled upon Hagrid.

"_You must save the families at Hogwarts,"_ said a younger female centaur. _"My foal was killed and my loss will be repeated many times in this land one year from now. You can save many young and their families if you try."_

"_You must save us from the evil within and from without created by the white bee,"_ said a young male centaur. _"You must cleanse the evil within Hogwarts and find the creature to cleanse it without." _

The youngest centaur said, _"You know the beasts and birds of the forest. Remember how to blend their magic in an old, old way."_

"_You know magic in the beasts and birds,"_ the sixth centaur, a young magic wielding female with a staff of dragon bone. _"Give the creature magic to cleanse the earth." _

"_And you must plant the walls to save the forest and the wizards,"_ said Ronan as he stepped forward while the other centaurs turned about and returned to the depths of the forest. Ronan walked over to a sapling and snapped it off, pulled off the smaller limbs and using a knife sharpened the blunt end. He handed the staff, about ten feet long and thicker than a wizard's arm, to the half-giant.

"This is your tool to dig the holes for wall. Dig each hole with a prayer to Mother Magic and Muggle God to have mercy and save us all."

Hagrid stared up at the sky for a moment. There was a crescent moon tonight and the clouds broke apart enough to allow it to appear in the sky.

"Do you understand now?" Ronan asked.

Hagrid nodded and said, "I must plant a wall around the forest and the castle."

Now Ronan pointed to one side and said, "Here begins your planting… from here back to Hogwarts and then around the castle. Every day from now until the summer solstice next summer. Centaurs and our friends will plant from here back to the endless magic of the forest."

Hagrid nodded and glanced behind him toward the Acromantula nest, now shrouded with the thick hedge that no one could break through.

"Can I take cuttings from the wall the centaurs built?"

"Yes, and we shall send you more cuttings," Ronan said. He lifted his hand and four little creatures – nifflers ran forward with their hands filled with cuttings. "Centaurs are not built to bend and dig the earth. We work with creatures who burrow and they plant for us in return for silver and gold, items for which we have no use."

"Hello there," Hagrid said, kneeling again to lift the four nifflers onto his shoulders. "Will you help me dig and plant?"

"They will appear every morning for the next year to help you plant the wall along the edge of the forest visible to wizards in Hogsmeade and Hogwarts. Plant along the north side of the Black Lake and around the castle. Encircle Hogwarts with a wall of shrubbery."

"What about the evil within and without?"

Ronan shook his head, "We don't see what it is at this time. By the time we do, it will be too late to do anything. We must prepare to withstand the evil when it arrives until you create the good that will dispel it."

"I ain't no wizard!" Hagrid insisted.

"You're more than you know," Ronan replied.

"What is the white bee?" asked the half-giant. "Who is this evil person we must strive against."

Ronan stared at Hagrid intensely, as if examining the half-giant's soul, before he said, "You must watch… before the new moon in the new year, you will know the evil one."

At Halloween, the caretaker's cat was petrified, and many classmates (and professors) blamed Harry as the 'Heir of Slytherin'. Ron deserted Harry and Hermione buried herself in school work.

Harry kept up his studies but also began to wander alone – always careful not to be seen or heard. Hogwarts noticed the boy's isolation and the castle began to help the boy hide, just like she was helping Hagrid hide his days spent in the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid and Harry in the Forbidden Forest

**Christmas 1992**

It was Christmas and Harry found himself outside the castle, trying to find some place where there weren't people staring and whispering, 'He's the Heir of Slytherin'. Neville, Hermione, and Luna went home for the holiday and Ron was still being a jerk, so Harry spent most of his day alone. Today, he'd brought his broomstick to fly and once he was in the air, he noticed Hagrid in the distance along the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Flying silently and paying no attention to the other children who suddenly lost sight of Harry Potter on his broomstick, Harry descended silently and greeted the half-giant.

"Hagrid! Good morning!"

"Good morning Harry! I'm glad to see ye this bright day! Don't get many sunny days in December here in Scotland!" boomed the happy voice of the groundskeeper as he poked holes in the ground with a large staff.

"What are you doing out here today?" Harry asked. While the air had been cold on his broomstick, here on the ground near the half-giant, the air was warm as late spring.

"Well, it's a long story and I'm supposed to keep it quiet…" Hagrid replied but that unseen voice encouraged him to tell Harry. "But seeing as you're the only one here, let me tell ye."

Harry stood beside Hagrid as the wizard kept working while he told his story, "In September, Professor Trelawney made a prophecy about me. I didn't understand it for most of a week so I came to the Forbidden Forest to ask the centaurs 'cause they know all about prophecy. I met them and they explained most of the prophecy to me. First, I have to complete a task."

"What's the task, Hagrid?"

"I have to help plant a wall around the Forbidden Forest and then another around Hogwarts to protect the castle from within and from without."

"What does that mean?" the boy asked. "I hear prophecies are hard to figure out."

Hagrid thought for a minute, remembering the things Ronan said, as well as the cryptic words of the seer and the centaurs. "I think it means there's something bad in the castle and something bad outside that will cause problems. I must help protect the Forbidden Forest and Hogwarts. And I have to keep my eyes open because there's someone hidden… someone who is evil and called the 'white bee'."

"White bee?" Harry paused before he explained, "Hagrid, there is something in the walls… something that says it's hungry and it wants to rip and tear people apart."

Nodding Hagrid said, "Maybe that's the danger. I don't know yet."

"Why are you out here in December?" asked Harry motioning toward the forest.

"I'm planting a hedge that'll grow and protect the school and the forest. Well, first here around the forest because the centaurs asked me to help them."

"How can you plant something in December? Will it live and grow?" asked the boy.

Hagrid grinned and motioned all around them. "Magic! The magic of the Forbidden Forest wants the hedge to take root and grow. The cold makes it slower to grow but the new hedge'll still be five or six feet tall by March."

"Can I help?" Harry asked. "I work in the garden for my relatives at their house every summer."

"Alright. You place the cutting into the hole and cover the roots," Hagrid said using his staff to dig a shallow trench. Harry knelt down and looked for a tray with cuttings but it was a spiny creature with a long nose that ran up and handed him a cutting.

"Hello," greeted Harry. "Who are you little fella?"

"That's a niffler," Hagrid explained. "They love gold and shiny objects – they collect them all. They can get into any place even if all the doors are sealed. I don't know why curse-breakers don't use 'em to get into tombs."

"Now, neither of us have any gold or anything shiny so today they'll just help us with our work."

There were four of the nifflers who kept bringing Harry cuttings to plant as Hagrid moved along quickly. After two hours, Harry rose from his knees to stretch. Hagrid nodded and kept digging while the nifflers took over planting the cuttings.

"Why don't ye take a flight around and see how the other patches of hedge are doing?" Hagrid suggested.

Grinning with pleasure to fly some more, Harry mounted his broomstick and scouted the entire edge of the forest. When he flew over the place where he knew the giant spiders lived, he was surprised to find the spider's nest was already surrounded by new, thick shrubs that reach overhead and enclosed the spiders.

Flying back to Hagrid, Harry explained that he found the hedge growing well in the places he'd looked and then he told him what he'd seen at the Acromantula nest.

"The centaurs lost a foal to the Aragog and his children back in the fall. I told Aragog again and again not to hunt the centaurs…" the groundskeeper admitted sadly. "Ronan and the others cast strong spells and enclosed the whole nest. At first I hoped they are just hibernating."

Hagrid shrugged and Harry thought it more likely that the spiders were dead but decided not to mention that to his friend. Rested after his flight, Harry returned to helping plant the new hedgerow and the young wizard asked about the plant.

Taking a healthy-looking cutting with dark green leaves and a few roots from a niffler, Hagrid explained, "This is Scottish Thorn, a magical plant from the Forbidden Forest that the bowtruckles like. Their magic can make the plant pliable and good for deer and unicorns to eat or they can make it thick and impenetrable to anything."

Motioning toward a six-foot section of the hedge, where Harry saw the little stick-like creatures running up and down the branches, Hagrid said, "Even a dragon would have trouble burning and tearing through this thicket."

"And it is growing fast," Harry said.

He motioned back along the path he'd flown and said, "The hedge along the edge of the forest back that way is about this tall already."

Harry held his hand just above his waist and added, "It's thicker than any briar bramble I've ever seen in Surrey."

Parsel Secrets

"So, tell me 'bout the castle," Hagrid said. "You still being treated bad 'cause they think you're the Heir of Slytherin."

Harry nodded and explained, "It's all because I can talk to snakes."

"You can talk to snakes?" asked Hagrid with true surprise evident in his question.

Harry blushed but nodded his head, fearful that Hagrid would dismiss him too. But instead, the tall man paused in his work, and searched through his pockets for a time, before withdrawing a book that he handed to Harry.

"Read this when you're alone. Don't let anyone see it… Don't tell no one, not your friends, not your professors and not the headmaster," Hagrid instructed the boy.

Harry looked at the book and hissed, {Parsel Tongue Magics – Think Like a Snake.}

Without thinking, Harry turned to Hagrid and in parsel tongue asked, {Where'd you get this book, Hagrid?}

"My da was a parsel tongue but I've never told no body. They wanted to send me to Azkaban back in the forties when that girl died. Headmaster Dippet expelled me but Dumbledore kept me around the castle. Before he died, Da taught me to read and understand parsel tongue some and he made me promise t'never tell anyone unless it was another person with the same magic."

{How can you understand me? Is this evil?} asked Harry and Hagrid listened carefully and stopped working long enough to explain.

"Yes, I can understand ye mostly, and no, a language is not evil. Wizards – and muggles for that matter – make something evil by meaning it to be…"

The half-giant grinned as he returned to his work, "Now, this means you can talk to snakes and to dragons… That'd be fun… I'd love to have a conversation with a dragon. Last year, I could understand Norbert some… I didn't get to keep him long enough to understand everything…"

"Great, I can have a conversation with a dragon before he eats me!" Harry insisted slipping back into English.

Hagrid laughed and turned back to his planting. "Now another thing to remember and keep secret, is that the stuffed shirts from the ministry can't send a wizard who speaks parsel tongue to Azkaban – Dementors are petrified of the language. Even if I can't speak it plainly, I can conjure and set snakes on 'em and Dementors are deathly afraid of snakes."

That night, Harry spent time reading the book in a corner of the common room and then in his bed. Not sharing the book with anyone, Harry found that he could read the scratches as plainly as English though he had to translate several passages.

The next day, he found a deserted classroom to play with written parsel-tongue, there Harry discovered that he could cast the spells he knew in parsel-tongue and they were even more powerful. Then he wrote other words in parsel to see what they looked like. Finally, he wrote people's names – Harry Potter in parsel looked like 'Brave Man'; this made Harry smile. He wrote out the names of his professors and discovered that Professor Severus Snape was a curse in parsel – the room grew excessively cold and dark.

"Well, I know I won't have any problem calling him 'professor' from now on," Harry smirked. "This will convince everyone Snape is evil when every room he's in grows cold and dark.'

Then Harry wrote out 'Albus Dumbledore' and turned pale as he translated it into parsel-tongue.

White Bee and Multiplying Nifflers

Waiting until time for lunch the next day, Harry slipped away from Ron who demanded to be friends once again, the Boy-Who-Lived slipped out the front door, mounted his broomstick to fly over the Forbidden Forest and found Hagrid in the forest, working with the nifflers to plant the hedge.

"Harry! I'm glad to see you again so soon."

"Hagrid… I… I don't know how to say this…" the boy looked disturbed by something but he couldn't make the information come forth.

The half-giant nodded and pointed toward the dirt, "Plant some cuttings until you find the words," Hagrid said. "There's no rush."

Harry and Hagrid worked in silence for almost twenty minutes before there was a pop and a small house elf appeared with a hamper of food.

"Rubeus Hagrid not eat breakfast!" the elf scolded. "He must eat…"

Seeing Harry working in the dirt, the elf said, "And skinny Harry Potters be eating too! He misses too many meals in summer not to eat twice as many in winter!"

Hagrid and Harry both stopped their work while the elf created a small table that soon held a feast of sandwiches, hot cider, pie, carrot sticks, and apples.

"Gertie be back later to collect hamper!" declared the house elf before she popped away.

With some hesitation, Harry explained what he knew about house elves – his experiences with the little elf named 'Dobby' left Hagrid very interested.

"Did the little fellow tell you who his bad master is?"

Harry shook his head. "He banged his head against the wall when I asked, telling me he was a bad elf for trying to help me."

Hagrid muttered for a few minutes about cursing wizards for harming creatures. "As long as the wizard doesn't give the elf clothes, there's nothing you can do except to be kind yourself."

While they talked about house elves, the half-giant made certain the young wizard ate a large meal and they both found entertainment in tossing pieces of their lunch to the nifflers. Hagrid noticed immediately that when Harry threw a carrot stick to one of the nifflers that the creatures were attracted to the strange vegetable. The nifflers passed the orange stick back and forth, chattering quickly and rather than allowing a squabble to erupt, the half-giant gave each niffler their own carrot stick.

The nifflers nibbled, chewed, chattered with each other, and then nibbled and chewed some more. When the first carrot sticks were eaten, the four nifflers came to the table and begged for more. Harry, who knew to well what it meant to stand beside the table while others ate and he went without, didn't hesitate to hand over the entire plate of carrot sticks to the nifflers.

Then Hagrid called for Gertie and asked for more carrots for the nifflers. The elf appeared with a bushel basket and the four nifflers dove into the pile of orange roots as if they were a fortune in gold.

"I never knew nifflers were so wild about any veggietable," Hagrid admitted. "They love gold and jewels, but carrots?"

Harry grinned and said, "Look how big they're getting!"

When the last carrot was consumed, the four nifflers were so large, they were stuck inside the basket that Gertie had brought them. With contented looks on their faces, the four nifflers groomed their front paws, and then exploded.

"What happened!?" shouted Hagrid.

"No! No!" shouted Harry, horrified that the little nifflers had been poisoned by the carrots. They both stepped closer to examine the basket – there weren't guts, parts, or blood everywhere – only several balls of niffler fur.

"Well, I'll be!" Hagrid said. "Harry, calm down. Everything is fine."

"How?" Harry asked as he lifted the basket to count the balls of fur. "Sixteen – each niffler made himself into four balls of fur."

Hagrid grinned, "We just discovered a secret ability of nifflers. When they're overfed on carrots, they explode and make four of themselves."

"What? How can that be?" asked the Boy-Who-Lived.

"It's magic, Harry. Just magic."

This simple answer caused Harry to place the basket back on the ground, sit down beside it, take a deep breath and then giggle. The giggles soon turned into laughter and he returned to helping Hagrid with the planting the wall.

It was not long before Harry said, "Hagrid, I think I can tell you my terrible news now."

"What's the news?"

"I read the book you loaned me. There was a long passage about using parsel-tongue to cast English spells," Harry explained. The half-giant nodded, remembering something about that when he read the book as a boy with his father.

Harry continued, "And about writing out English words in parsel-tongue to see their hidden meanings."

True surprise on his face, Hagrid asked, "Does that work?"

Harry flashed a grin and replied, "When I wrote out Professor Severus Snape in parsel-tongue, I found out that his name is a curse to bring cold and darkness."

"That don't surprise me none," Hagrid replied. "Is that your terrible thing?"

Harry ducked his head down and in a rush of words said, "No. When I write out Albus Dumbledore in parsel-tongue, it's 'White Bee'."

Hagrid missed one motion with his staff digging holes in the earth but then he returned to his work. Harry had planted all the available cuttings and he sat back on his butt, wrapping his arms around his arm.

"White Bee, eh?" Hagrid said sadly. "I'm sorry to hear that. I always thought Dumbledore was the best of the good wizards."

"What do we do?" asked Harry.

Hagrid returned to digging. "You make certain you never look Professor Dumbledore in the eye. Find something else to stare at; his hat, his beard, his funny robes. Anytime, Snape talks to you and says, 'Look at me', make certain you reply with his full name and title in parsel-tongue."

"Okay."

"This is not something for a student to have to worry about!" Hagrid fussed. "I will deal with it one day at a time."

In the basket, the sixteen balls of fur, shook themselves out and very shortly, small nifflers climbed out of the basket and set to work bringing cuttings to the Boy-Who-Lived and He-Who-Must-Save-Us-All.

Neville and Luna Begin Planting too…

"Harry Potter, I'm ever so glad to finally meet you. May I shake your hand?"

On his way to potions with Neville, Harry was surprized by the young girl who greeted him with an extended hand to shake.

"Hello…" he replied quietly.

"I'm Luna Lovegood and I am very interested in talking with some bowtruckles this afternoon."

"Bowtruckles?" asked Neville.

"Yeah, they're little stick creatures who live in trees and bushes in the Forbidden Forest," explained Harry, suddenly more comfortable with the girl if she knew about the bowtruckles.

"Bowtruckles can be powerful in large numbers," Luna added. "I want to foster a revolution in the bowtruckles and banish trolls from the Forbidden Forest."

"Loony! What are you doing here?" yelled Ron as he hurried past on the way to potions. "Ha! Don't forget Loony, it's dangerous to hang out with the Heir of Slytherin!"

"Ron!" Hermione fussed as she hurried past as well. She glanced at Harry, Neville, and Luna, but didn't say anything except to grimace.

Leaning close to the boys, Luna said, "Remember to dice the goat's liver today. Everyone else will shred it but if you dice it, when Malfoy attempts to spoil your potion, it will come out perfectly."

"Thanks Luna," Neville replied though Harry made a funny face thinking about dicing 'goat's liver'.

"It's a plant," Luna said as she laughed and turned to leave. "I'll meet you both at the front door at three."

Just as Luna predicted, after Neville diced the goat's liver, (a purple fruit from some common weed), Draco Malfoy slipped an extra ingredient into the cauldron on the table in front of Neville and Harry. When nothing happened, the spoiled boy began to whine and ignored his own cauldron. The resulting explosion among the Slytherins sent Draco and six others to the infirmary. Snape hurried after his students who were fainting every fourth step they took.

Amber Johnson, Head Girl was summoned to complete the class, and while everyone else had a cauldron of sludge and muck, Neville Longbottom and Harry Potter had a perfect potion to remove dandruff from any type of hair. She marked both boys with an 'Outstanding' grade for the day.

Promptly at three, Harry, Neville and Luna slipped out the front door of Hogwarts and vanished from the sight of any professor, the headmaster or other students. The castle knew where they were and three house elves were assigned to follow and protect the students.

They mounted two broomsticks (Luna behind Harry) and Neville on his own broomstick and flew over the Forbidden Forest – it was a shorter trip now as Hagrid's plantings came close to the castle.

Not pausing in his work with his staff, Hagrid greeted Luna and Neville as Harry introduced them. Then Harry introduced them to the nifflers and the bowtruckles. While Neville examined one of the cuttings closely, Luna stepped away to find an older section of the hedge where she was soon covered with bowtruckles.

"How is it so warm here?" asked Neville, carefully placing the little plant in the ground where a niffler proceeded to pack the soil firmly about the tiny roots.

Hagrid responded, "My work with the staff makes the air and the earth warmer around me. And the warmth helps with the frozen ground, lets the plants take hold, and then grow."

"The bowtruckles really like you, Mr. Hagrid," Luna said when she returned with a dozen or so in her hair and another dozen leaping between her hands.

"I like 'em back!" Hagrid replied enthusiastically as the bowtruckles leapt from Luna to the half-giant.

"What is this plant? Scottish Thorn?" asked Neville.

Hagrid nodded. "Aye, the centaurs told me what plant to use, the nifflers keep me supplied in cuttings, the bowtruckles help it grow, and the house elves keep me fed."

"Why do we need a hedge around the Forbidden Forest and Hogwarts?" asked Neville.

Hagrid replied, "To keep out evil next school year."

"Evil?" exclaimed Neville. "Last year a possessed professor and this year something petrifying students… Hogwarts has plenty of evil already. We don't need more!"

Hagrid asked, "Ye're not afraid of Harry, are ye?"

Neville snorted, "Harry's the best of us all. He's fights the evil and wins."

Blushing Harry said, "Nev… there's a prophecy and we can't tell the professors or other kids."

"Don't worry," Luna replied in her dreamy tone of voice. "Neville's mind is protected by green magic… anytime Snape or Dumbledore try to look into Neville's mind, all they see are green leaves and grass… They get a terrible headache and run away."

She looked at Harry and added, "Work in the dirt another hour today with Hagrid and tonight, all Snape will see in your mind is a great wave of dirt falling on him and burying him alive. Even Dumbledore won't be able to dig him out."

"And your mind, Miss Lovegood?" asked Neville with a teasing tone. "What would they see?"

Luna giggled, "If either of them try to look into my mind tonight, they'll be swarmed by bowtruckles. The little fellows have a good bite and a thousand bites in ten minutes will distract any wizard."

When the students flew back to Hogwarts before supper time, Neville carried three cuttings for the greenhouses behind Hogwarts. He skipped dinner to get the seedlings planted in pots and placed in a spot with plenty of artificial light. An elf brought supper to 'Mr Green' and reported to Professor Sprout that her best herbology student was in the greenhouse.

Pomona hesitated to tell Minerva. She listened to a voice no one else could hear and decided to keep the information to herself. McGonagall hadn't helped Potter this year with the Heir of Slytherin rumours… For the tenth time that week, Sprout wished both of those boys had been sorted into Hufflepuff.

Luna and Harry entered the Great Hall about two minutes apart and as Harry sat down, he felt a tickle in his brain. Looking up at the staff table, he found Professor Severus Snape staring at him. Harry smiled and whisper-hissed, "Good evening Professor Severus Snape."

The potions professor would never admit it, but in his mind, he was suddenly buried under tons of earth. When he managed to clear his mind, he found himself sitting alone at his end of the table – the other professors were crowded on the other side of a Dumbledore who looked very disturbed and distrustful of the head of Slytherin House. Glancing toward the students, Snape discovered that the Slytherin and Ravenclaw students were clustered at the far end of the tables – no one sat at the ends of the tables near him.

"Have you been working on a new potion?" Dumbledore asked. "You grabbed your head, and then the atmosphere around you grew extremely cold, dark and uncomfortable for everyone."

"I… I am not working…" Severus stuttered before he rose and very carefully made his way out of the Great Hall. If every student in his path cringed and moved away as he passed, the wizard didn't notice as he tried to manage the headache that almost blinded him.

Nargle Smack-Down

The next month passed quickly for Harry with trips to the Forbidden Forest when possible to help plant the wall, and lessons in classrooms and studying in the library. When Luna came to the library one evening with only one shoe, Neville and Harry got the story out of the sweet girl when they left to escort her back to the Ravenclaw dormitory.

"And they steal your clothes and homework?" asked Neville.

Luna looked away but nodded. "I am sorry the nargels feel so bad… taking my things hasn't made them feel better but I hope they will learn."

Harry sighed and wondered what to do. They passed a deserted classroom with an open door and Harry pulled the two of them inside while the door closed and vanished behind them.

Three girls from Ravenclaw who were attempting to stalk Luna and her escorts suddenly found themselves very confused and in need of the loo. The girls fought over the single toilet available in the girls' bathroom on the third floor. Then Moaning Myrtle appeared in the same stall and the three girls fled, leaving puddles behind them.

In the classroom, Harry stared at Luna for a long time before he nodded and called, "Gertie, can you help us?"

With a pop, the little house elf who followed Hagrid around with baskets of food (without carrots) to keep the half-giant, his nifflers, and his young wizard helpers, fed and warm, appeared in the classroom with a table and a tray with three mugs of hot chocolate.

"You are the best elf in the world, Gertie!" Neville said as he handed one cup to Luna and took one for himself.

Gertie knew the other house elves envied her now – last fall when she was assigned the duty of feeding Hagrid, the other elves were relieved to have regular chores in the castle. But now, Gertie helped create Niffler magic with carrots, helped the not-wizard with his new staff that he used to turn the soil for planting, and helped three young magical humans.

"Hows can Gertie help youse?"

The next morning, Professor Filius Flitwick stared at the Ravenclaw table and noticed several differences immediately – three girls – two of his second students and one third year student had appeared in the Great Hall with very strange arrangements for their hair – it stuck out in every direction. All three girls were tearful and very quiet. He noticed the prefects were very quiet too as if they didn't want to capture his attention.

'_Too bad,'_ he thought. _'If you don't want to capture my attention, don't change your behaviour.'_

He met with the prefects immediately after breakfast for a short time and promised them an additional meeting after supper before he sent them to class. During the day, he summoned the three girls to his office individually and drug the story from them.

"And the elf said you'd… your hair would return to normal when?"

Cho Chang managed to explain despite her tears, "…when we understood that what we did was wrong."

"And what did you do?"

"We… we stole Loony's clothes and homework… but she's not like the rest of us…"

Flitwick sighed as he watched a patchwork of pimples appear across the girl's heretofore clear complexion.

"Miss Cho, I believe you should go home this weekend and talk with your parents. Do you realize that 'I' am different than everyone else at Hogwarts? Will you steal my clothes and my work papers? And you would do well to remember that there is only one other student in the entire school who shares your facial characteristics! How long before the 'normal' students decide to drive 'you' away because you're 'not like the rest'?"

The girl stared at the professor as though he'd sprouted wings.

"I will arrange for your mother or father to come get you on Friday afternoon. You need to have a long talk with them about your attitude."

"I…"

"That'll be all. Return to the dormitory until supper."

Recruiting Professor Sprout

"Neville, can you wait a moment at the end of class?" Professor Pomona Sprout asked.

The blonde boy glanced at Harry who nodded; they had a free period following Herbology and Hermione would disappear into the library.

"Mr. Potter, you stay as well," Professor Sprout called as the other students gathered their books and left class.

"You wanted to speak to us, Professor Sprout?" asked Neville as the last student left the classroom.

"I did," the kind, plant-crazy professor said as she waved her wand to reveal a pot with a healthy Scottish Thorn with a multitude of bowtruckles working in the branches.

"I found this_Ilex Aquifolium_in the north greenhouse yesterday morning. It doubled in size during the day but then this morning, most of the growth had been trimmed away… as if someone was taking cuttings to plant in February."

Neville nodded while Harry reached out a hand that was quickly covered with the bowtruckles. Professor Sprout watched silently as the two boys each spoke to the little creatures and each touched the plant.

"I need an explanation so that I don't have to bring this to the attention of the headmaster," Pomona told her favourite student and his friend.

"I'm doing independent study with Mr. Hagrid on the bowtruckles," Harry said.

"And I am experimenting on using magic to foster growth in the wintertime with plants," Neville added.

"With Scottish Thorn? It's impossible to get the magical version to grow faster than an inch a year, and getting it to grow in winter is impossible…"

She motioned back to the potted bush and said, "Well I thought it was impossible with this variety of Holly."

Neville asked, "It occurs naturally in the Forbidden Forest and we… What is this Holly used for?"

"Ilex Aquifolium makes a suitable low bush around the front doors of most wizarding homes…" Sprout explained. "Traditionally it's to ward off evil spirits and protect the house."

Harry's full attention came back to the professor as she explained that most old magical homes in Scotland and England had at least a pair of these bushes around the front and back doors. He wondered about magical homes and how many would have this variety of shrub growing around the doors and windows.

Sprout noticed the bowtruckles climbing back onto the plant and the boys whispering for a moment.

"Why bowtruckles?" she asked.

"They can make Scottish Thorn edible for unicorn and deer," Harry explained.

"Or they make it impenetrable, tough, and tall," Neville said.

Sprout's eyes grew wide and she sat on a nearby chair. "Is Hagrid planting Holly around the edges of Hogwarts?"

Again, the two boys glanced at each other and then slowly nodded. Sprout thought back over the past months at school – these two boys were ostracized by most of their classmates if not the entire school. Dumbledore had strongly discouraged anyone from stopping the 'Heir of Slytherin' comments.

"And what roles are you playing in this job that Hagrid has set himself?"

"We help to plant cuttings," Neville said. "We've got nifflers bringing the cuttings to us while Hagrid digs the holes."

"And I cast magic to make things grow even faster in wintertime," Harry said.

Sprout held up her hands to stop them there. "First there's a specific spell to use that won't pull as much magic from you when you cast it. Use the Grow Green incantation and the plants will grow even faster."

Professor Sprout demonstrated the wand movement with the spell 'Revirescere' three times with each boy repeating the wand movements.

Now, Harry drew his wand and cast the spell on the potted Holly and it immediately sprouted new leaves and grew taller.

Then, Neville repeated the spell on a nearby potted geranium and the plant threatened to climb up the wall in a few moments.

"Very good. Now wait here." Sprout hurried into her office and returned quickly with two blank journals, one for each boy.

"Now this is an official Hogwarts Herbology Log and I have enchanted them to protect your notes from nosey classmates. You will keep a log of your activities and the results. This log will count toward your final grade in Herbology this year and…" 

She caught their eyes, smiled, and continued, "This has the feeling of a project that you can continue for several years and earn you special credit on your OWLS. When you are fifth years, if you're still interested, we can construct a two-year project to push your score in NEWTS higher and lay the foundations for Mastery for each of you."

"Our friend Luna Lovegood is working with us," Harry said.

"The firstie in Ravenclaw?" Sprout asked. "I know she's had some problems fitting in with the other claws."

Harry grinned and whispered, "A house elf is fixing things in Ravenclaw."

Pomona suddenly understood why several girls at the Ravenclaw table had suffered from 'bad hair' days now.

"I'll get her a journal at our next class and make certain the other students know she's doing outstanding work."

Longbottom Walls

The very next day, Harry found Neville talking with two of the house elves who were planting and helping Hagrid. Longbottom handed them a letter and a small potted Scottish Thorn before they popped away.

"What's up, Neville?"

Grinning his friend explained, "Flops and Tops are taking orders from me to the Longbottom elves. They're to find a couple free elves and begin planting Scottish Thorn around my home."

"Where will we get enough Scottish Thorn?" Harry asked. "We can't take it all from the wall around the giant spider nest."

"There's Scottish Thorn all over the estate back home along walkways, around buildings… my great-grandfather wanted to protect the house and the barns from evil spirits."

"Evil spirits?"

"He married a witch from the Black family and worried that the Black family madness would infect his wife and children. So, he planted Scottish Thorn with his own hands."

"Did you send bowtruckles with the instructions?"

Neville shook his head and said, "My elves will come to the Forbidden Forest and find some that are interested in moving to our county."

"You've got greenhouses and farms… how many people and elves can we feed from your place?"

Neville looked confused and said, "We'll have to ask Luna how many farms to protect. There's no way I could…"

"We need math and the head elf to know how much food…"

"How could we grow enough food to ever satisfy Ron?" Neville joked and Harry grinned.

"What about your grandmother? Won't she ask questions about the hedge?"

Neville shook his head. "She lets me do what I want in the yard and around the farms since I was eight years old. So long as her elf is available and the house is clean, she'll be glad I'm keeping the elves busy."

"We need to figure out what farms to protect. I wish there was an adult we could trust and ask questions about food."

Neville nodded, "Luna is certain that Hagrid is right and something bad is going to happen this summer. She is being kind to everyone – even the girls who were mean to her. It's like she thinks they'll…"

Harry realized what Neville hinted and took a deep breath though neither could speak again for a minute. Their brains refused to consider the faces of classmates that Luna attempted to befriend this winter.


	2. Chapter 2 Hagrid Part 2

Hagrid Part 2: Winter to Summer

There is an attempted ritual and terrible consequences when the ritual is botched. Dumbledore is thrown about the globe and must find his way back to Britain. Hagrid's work around Hogwarts suddenly makes sense.

Hagrid Sent to Azkaban

**(February and March 1993)**

As fear grew with the number of petrified students in Hogwarts, Cornelius Fudge had to be seen as 'doing something' about the danger. There came a morning when the Daily Prophet reported that Rubeus Hagrid, the groundskeeper at Hogwarts had been sentenced to Azkaban for 'opening the Chamber of Secrets'. For two days, Harry worried for his friend, but then he remembered Hagrid's story about wizards who spoke parsel tongue summoning snakes and terrifying Dementors.

Harry went to his classes but ignored the professors and other students; he wanted to escape the castle and the whispered 'Heir of Slytherin' mutters from all the students. The moment he was free, Harry took his broom and flew along the edge of the forest.

After half an hour, the young wizard was grinning from ear to ear but with tears in his eyes when he found his giant friend planting more hedge. Harry landed his broomstick safely and ran to Hagrid, giving the giant a hug. Around their feet the nifflers were busy digging holes and planting the hedge to build the wall. A couple of the nifflers did climb up Harry's robes and check the young wizard's pockets for carrot sticks.

"You're here! You're safe!" Harry cried with relief.

Hagrid assured Harry that he was well, but then the Boy-Who-Lived said with a worried tone, "If I was able to find you, the Aurors can come back and…"

{Nope, they can't 'find' me,} Hagrid hissed in reply with a smile.

Now Hagrid switched to English as his parsel tongue was difficult to speak and to understand, "Only another wizard who speaks parsel-tongue can see me. I just hissed a few words my Da taught me and the Aurors stumbled all over themselves but they 'remember' delivering me to Azkaban. I hurried back here and started planting again. I missed almost two days…"

{Can I help?} hissed Harry.

"Did Neville or Sprout teach you any spell to make plants grow faster?"

Harry paused and remembered the spell 'Grow Green'.

"Yes, Professor Sprout taught me one."

"Cast it in parsel-tongue and let's see what happens…"

Harry stood to the side, drew his wand, and cast the spell at the new plantings, {Revirescere}.

When Harry's parsel-tongue magic fell upon the cuttings that Hagrid planted earlier in the day, the tiny plants immediately grew two inches with bright green leaves. Harry grinned again as the plants continued to grow though Hagrid and the nifflers didn't pause in their work.

To speed the growth of the hedge around the Forbidden Forest and Hogwarts, Harry mounted his broom and flew close to the ground, casting the spell again and again along the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Hogwarts didn't allow anyone to see the pair working so diligently as the hedgerow to protect the forest and the school grew thick and impenetrable.

Later as Harry prepared to return to the castle for supper, he confided some information to Hagrid. "My friend Hermione was been petrified."

Hagrid nodded. "Ronan said the pretty muggleborn would be the last one. But don't worry, the mandrake potion will restore her and everyone else to normal."

End of the School Year Rumours

Almost two weeks before the end of Harry Potter's second year at Hogwarts, Hagrid finished planting the hedges around one side of the Forbidden Forest and around most of Hogwarts. The centaurs completed planting the hedge around the other sides of the forest and meadows they claimed and the herd believed they would be safe from the coming 'danger'. Hagrid continued his work and studied the castle's inhabitants for clues to his next task to fulfil the prophecy.

The castle was filled with rumours and wild stories that the Boy-Who-Lived battled a manticore in the Chamber of Secrets to rescue an innocent girl from certain death. At the staff table, Professor Trelawny kept trying to leave and hide while she muttered, "No one is safe… no place is safe…"

McGonagall's face remained pinched while the other heads of house were silent and pensive. Hagrid noted that Snape kept his eyes glued on the students at the Slytherin table and all seven years remained silent, moving only as much as necessary to insert food or drink into their mouths.

The house elf, Gertie, told Hagrid the truth; Harry Potter battled a giant basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets and the boy did rescue Ginevra Weasley from possession by the Dark Lord. Ron Weasley claimed to be Harry's best friend again and kept trying to push Neville Longbottom out of the way.

"Like Gertie let Mouth push my Mr Green around," the little elf said with a smart sniff. "Mouth must stay close to water closet last few days and Mr Earth free to talk with real friends."

Laughing with relief, Hagrid thanked the elf and went outside to plant more of the wall around Hogwarts.

'_Is the prophecy fulfilled by little Harry?' _he wondered._ 'He helped build the wall without and he defeated the enemy within…'_

Hagrid put his staff to work pounding into the ground and busting out holes that the nifflers filled with cuttings as the wall around Hogwarts grew.

Without any more revelations, Hagrid quietly participated in the leaving feast, wished Luna, Neville and Harry a fond farewell, and prepared to spend the summer tending to the hedge he'd planted and the creatures who lived in the Forbidden Forest. In the last week of June, he completed the hedge to enclose the whole of Hogwarts. In just two days, magic lifted the last sections of the wall to be ten feet tall with stiff limbs and stickers that were impenetrable. Their work complete, the nifflers vanished back into the Forbidden Forest to dig burrows and sleep during the day before venturing forth at night to hunt for treasure.

It became a daily practice for Hagrid to walk along some portion of the hedge stamping his staff into the ground, almost like he was patrolling the new boundary of the forest and the castle. The hedge was just outside the wards of the castle, and the only openings were the two paths to Hogsmeade where the thestrals pulled the coaches with students from the train station and where the students walked to the village to shop. The plants on either side of the openings would close up these 'holes' quickly once some cuttings were planted across the paths.

Hagrid knew the house elves were planting and tending large gardens in the lawns of Hogwarts – the Quidditch Pitch was the only spot of green not turned to growing food this summer by the determined elves.

At the end of the first week in July, two weeks after the students left, the half-giant walked along the northern edge of the forest with the centaur who helped him interpret Trelawny's prophecy last fall. As they compared observations and news, the pair made the circuit of the hedges and determined that the forest and castle would be safe from the still-unknown danger that approached this summer.

"The hedge nearest Black Lake needs some fertilizer," Ronan informed the groundskeeper. The centaur motioned toward the top of the hedge – in this space the impossibly thick hedge was ten feet tall. "You were correct Rubeus Hagrid; the hedge can keep out anything short of a charging dragon but that section is not as tall as here."

"There's too many rocks in the ground around the Black Lake," Hagrid explained. He thought for a moment and then said, "I'll ask Little Bit to pull up some muck from the lake and spread it around the hedge there. The fertilizer from the muck'll get that section to ten feet in just a couple days. He can reach about thirty feet from the edge of the lake."

"Who is this 'Little Bit'?" asked the centaur.

"He's the kraken who lives in the lake during the summers."

The centaur snorted, "And his name is 'Little Bit'?"

"That's as close as I can come to pronouncing it," Hagrid admitted with a grin.

"The young wizards are both prepared? And the seer; have you heard from her?" the centaur asked after Harry, Neville, and Luna.

Horrifying News

**(7 July 1993) **

Before Hagrid could respond, the half-giant and the centaur froze in place when a ball of fire appeared and transformed into Fawkes – Dumbledore's phoenix.

Hagrid knew instantly that the magical bird was in distress as her tears fell to the ground, making grasses and seeds burst forth into flower instantly as she sang of great evil and terror. Listening to her song, the centaur moaned in fear.

"It has begun!" Ronan announced as Hagrid quickly approached the bird and calmed her with soft words and caresses, ignoring the flames that occasionally shot out of her wings. Her song was heart wrenching and drew unicorns from the shadows who offered the distressed phoenix comfort with their presence.

The centaur cursed and continued, "Mother magic will not permit this…"

"What happened?" Hagrid fearfully as the centaur frowned and motioned toward the weeping phoenix.

"Fawkes sings that Albus Dumbledore attempted a ritual… an evil ritual to give magic to the muggles. He used a powerful spell in the Chamber of Secrets with an innocent and the carcass of a giant basilisk as the sacrifice."

"Magic for muggles? There's too many of 'em… How could magic…" Hagrid wondered. There'd be no place for all the creatures in the world if every muggle had magic.

The centaur shook his head and raised his bow with an arrow notched in the string. Ronan ordered, "Stand back. I must free Fawkes of the bond with Dumbledore to end her pain."

"What?" asked Hagrid, but seeing the look on Ronan's face, he quickly sat the phoenix on the ground and stepped back just before the centaur shot an arrow through the phoenix. The flint head of the arrow cut through the heart of the phoenix and broke her bond with Dumbledore. Fawkes burst into flames again, bright enough to make Hagrid turn his head away and cover his ears as her death song threatened to wrench his soul from his form.

When silence returned and he could see once more, Hagrid found a little phoenix chick on the ground, chirping plaintively. The groundskeeper lifted her gently, pulling a large scarf from his pocket and making a sling for the chick that he could wear around his neck.

Once Fawkes was settled in the sling and quiet, still weeping a few tears, Hagrid realized that Ronan was gone – the centaur would return to his herd with the news of Dumbledore's terrible deed.

"What's to be done?" Hagrid wondered aloud. He slowly made his way through the forest, cupping the chick in one hand underneath the scarf. The half-giant stopped at berry bushes and gathered fruit for the chick, and he found a few early apples that he crushed and fed to the hungry phoenix.

As he traversed the magical forest, his thoughts remembered the rumours and stories from the end of the school year.

'_Little Harry fought a basilisk in the chamber and saved the Weasley girl… That's must be the carcass Dumbledore used in the ritual Fawkes told Ronan about.'_

'_Ronan said Dumbledore used an innocent… Oh no, that means a child! What have you done Dumbledore?'_ the giant man wondered as tears began to fall from his eyes.

He glanced toward the castle and determined to slip inside to check for black magic residue. If the ritual had been terrible and evil, there'd be residue that had to be contained and destroyed. Glancing around him, Hagrid realized he had the ritual field already set to dispel the evil underneath Hogwarts in the magical hedge that now enclosed the forest and the castle.

Fawkes chirped, asking for more apples and berries.

The Hubris of Albus Dumbledore

**(4 to 7 July 1993)**

The mad scheme that first consumed Albus Dumbledore and then destroyed the world began the morning after Harry Potter brought news of the giant basilisk underneath Hogwarts; and even more, the news that he'd slain the beast with the Sword of Gryffindor. The weapon that had slain the beast gave the wielder great power over the creature's magic and the carcass lay in the chamber, available for ritual magic.

Ignoring the scrambling of professors and students to arrange for OWLs and NEWTs to be conducted at the ministry – Dumbledore's decision to cancel testing at the school sent professors, fifth- and seventh-year students, parents, and ministry testing officials into an unending fury that the headmaster completely ignored. Rather than listen to complaints over the floo or receive any visitors, Dumbledore poured his intellect into the secret tomes of magic he'd hidden away in the headmaster's suite.

When questioned too closely about his plans by his predecessor, Armando Dippet, Albus put all the portraits into a deep sleep and threatened Crusty, the head elf, with clothes if a single elf whispered any secrets to any professor or student.

Fawkes tried to dissuade Dumbledore from his folly until the headmaster confined the phoenix to a conjured cage to force her compliance with his commands.

"I shall be remembered forever as the greatest wizard who ever lived," he announced to the silent office when he found the ritual he wanted; **Granting Magical Gifts to the Non-Blessed**.

The title of the book was '**Dark Secretes Most Potent and Forbidden**' and Dumbledore ignored the warnings in the preface. He read through the steps of the ritual; must be completed within the same cycle of the moon as the slaughter of the beast, must use the same weapon, must occur on the same ground, must include the life of an innocent with a single stroke of the weapon that enters the carcass to invoke the ritual.

Albus paused and reached for a lemon drop. '_I'll give magic to the muggles and then everyone will revere me… Merlin's magic will be remembered only as an also-ran after Albus Dumbledore brings magic to the whole world!'_

He smiled._ 'The life of a single innocent is worth the price.'_

'_Who would qualify as an innocent?'_ he pondered. _'Harry Potter? No, I still need him to weaken Tom when he returns. Neville Longbottom? No, he's my backup for Harry…'_

Albus considered using Hermione Granger but decided she was probably out of the country with her muggle parents and hidden among the scores of muggles on vacation. Besides, the girl was too much of a mudblood – he needed a pureblood witch to make the ritual fully powered and complete.

"Ginevra Weasley," he said the name aloud as he considered she was already familiar with the basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets. "Her name will be revered for ten thousand years afterwards."

He smiled thinking how the muggle Christians admired sacrifice – especially of innocents.

'_But how to get Molly to allow me access to her daughter?' _he wondered. Rejecting the imperious curse and new charms, Dumbledore decided to just build on the trust and obedience charms he'd already laid on Molly. Arthur was of no concern – Albus would wait until Arthur left for the ministry and just apparate into the Burrow back yard…

'_I'll bring the news of Percy's appointment as Head Boy for the year. And then I'll ask Molly and Ginevra to accompany me to Hogwarts to – yes! To perform a cleansing ritual to remove all traces of Tom from Ginevra! Molly will agree… especially since the mighty Albus Dumbledore is preforming the ritual for free!' _

The headmaster smiled as he took the next steps in his plan to alter the world. Severus was absent – attending some conference in America on brewing potions so Dumbledore made his way to the dungeons and ordered the house elves to move all potion ingredients to the Chamber of Secrets – now that the charms of Salazar Slytherin had been breached, the headmaster of the school had access to the chamber and its contents.

He ended up raiding the greenhouse for all the dragon flower spines available, and then visited two shops in Diagon Alley for their supplies of dragon blood – charged to the Hogwarts accounts of course.

The morning of 7 July, Albus Dumbledore was ready, the chamber was prepared with the ingredients strewn over the carcass and the containers of dragon's blood ready. Elves were banished from the castle for the day – let them indulge in their latest obsession to dig in the dirt and plant vegetables today rather than spy on his great work.

He waited until 8:20 to apparate from Hogwarts to the backyard of the Burrow. With his first step, he heard Molly screaming at Ron for eating a pie she'd made for lunch and knew everything was normal in Ottery Saint Catchpole.

He knocked on the door and little Ginevra herself opened the door, her eyes growing wide maybe a moment later than expected, but then the child turned and ran back into the kitchen. Molly appeared and welcomed Dumbledore as always.

"Molly, good morning!"

"Headmaster, come in, come in," the witch said. "Can I offer you tea? Why are you visiting today?"

"Well, I have two tasks today. First, I need to speak to young Percival if possible."

Hopeful and rewarded by a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes, Molly's face beamed as she called up the staircase for Percy to come downstairs.

"The boys are all working on their summer homework this morning," Molly explained though everyone knew Ron wouldn't touch a book or quill until someone stood over him with a wooden spoon to snap his fingers if he didn't write the assigned essays.

Percy hurried down the stairs and was promptly awarded the position of Head Boy for the 1993-1994 school year. Molly was in tears to have another son so honoured by Dumbledore, ignoring the effort Percy had put into his classes to reach this moment.

Hurrying back up the stairs with Ginny at his heels, Percy planned to write Penny with the good news. Now Dumbledore turned to Molly and neither of them noticed the magical ears that hung from the light fixture, listening to every word.

"Now, Molly, my second piece of news is of a serious nature."

"Yes, headmaster?"

"Young Ginevra's experience at school… well I want to make certain there's not any dark magic lingering around her core. I'm fearful of the consequences of being exposed to the Dark Lord's evil magic for so long…"

Grasping her apron for a lifeline, Molly asked, "What can we do?"

"There's a simple cleansing ritual that I can perform this morning at Hogwarts that will remove any traces… If you help prepare her, we can be back before lunch."

"Prepare her?"

"She needs to be bathed in purified water and dressed in a simple linen shift but it has to be another's hands… something only her mother should do."

"I don't have purified water or a shift…"

"All of those things are at Hogwarts," Dumbledore assured her. "Now, call young Ginevra back downstairs and we'll be off."

Once they returned to the headmaster's office, Albus led Molly and Ginevra to a room to one side and then left mother and daughter alone, closing the door behind him. Explaining quietly to Ginny what was to happen, Molly helped Ginny to undress and to slip into the tub of clear, warm water.

Using towels to dry her daughter, Molly smiled and said, "After this is all over, we'll ask the headmaster to send Harry to stay with us for a couple weeks before school. Does that sound like something you'd like?"

"Yes, Mother…" the young witch replied quickly, the first genuine smile on her face in two weeks.

"Mother?" asked Molly with a frown. "You're so formal since coming home…"

"Sorry. Mum," Ginevra replied as she slipped the linen shift over her head. It hung to her ankles and was gathered by a simple belt.

"That's my girl," Molly said as she hugged her daughter.

The Ritual

Standing beside his desk, Dumbledore greeted Molly and Ginevra back in the main part of his office where all the portraits remained asleep and the phoenix was absent.

"Now, Molly, I'll take Ginevra to the ritual chamber and cleanse her of all the dark magic."

"Dark magic? What dark magic?" the girl asked suddenly, moving behind her mother. "Mum, I don't need any…"

Before things got out of control, Dumbledore cast a spell upon the girl that put her to sleep and Molly lowered her daughter into a nearby chair.

"It's worse than I thought," Dumbledore whispered in a confidential tone to the worried mother. "She may resist the cleansing."

"Will it be safe?" Molly asked, her hands begin to twist.

"Of course, my dear, that's why I am going to perform the spell… not some creature at Gringotts or a healer without my great levels of power at St. Mungo's…"

"Thank you, Dumbledore… Thank you…"

Handing Molly a parchment scroll, Dumbledore said, "Now, I shall take Ginevra to the ritual room and then return with her once we're done. In the meantime, why don't you sit here and read this report of the Potter vaults. We must discuss Harry's future soon."

Taking her eyes off Ginny and Dumbledore, Molly took the report from Gringotts and opened it; immediately a combination of obliviation spell, compulsion charm, and port key sent Molly home to begin lunch, thinking about Percy's year as Head Boy and how Ginevra had walked over to the Lovegood home for the day. She had no memory of delivering her daughter to Albus Dumbledore.

With Molly obliviated and sent home, Dumbledore took the Sword of Gryffindor down from the wall, and then created a port key from a lemon drop. Taking hold of the sleeping girl's arm, he popped the lemon drop into his mouth and the magic transported the two of them into the Chamber of Secrets.

With the girl stuck to the basilisk with her arms and legs spread apart and her head stuck in an upright position, Dumbledore began the ritual, calling for more light in the corners to create deeper shadows, and then casting herbs, chanting first in Latin and followed by ancient Babylonian, while sprinkling dragon's blood on Ginevra's head, face and body.

When he'd reached the part of the ritual that required the 'innocent' to be awake, with some reluctance on the headmaster's part, he cast a spell to wake up the girl.

The girl's eyes flew open, taking in her surroundings and the headmaster standing before her with the gleaming sword but surprisingly, she remained silent.

Taking the hilt of the sword in both hands, Dumbledore continued his chanting… the chamber swirled with magic… pale yellow eyes seemed to be watching from the dark shadows that grew ever closer to the carcass of the basilisk, the wizard and the girl.

Lifting the sword high, Dumbledore paused only one second when he heard, "Dumbledore! What have you done?"

The headmaster realized too late the voice wasn't the voice of a girl; it was the voice of the Dark Lord – Tom Riddle!

But the sword was already in motion and Dumbledore plunged it through Ginevra's heart and into the carcass of the basilisk. The figure of the girl twisted in agony, and blood flowed from her mouth, but the voice continued to be an angry Tom Riddle… not an innocent child.

"What did you do? You can't kill me!" Tom's voice shouted as the soul of the Dark Lord called to his magic. From the school above, a diadem collapsed as the magic holding a piece of the Dark Lord's soul sent it flying to aid the original piece dying in the Chamber of Secrets.

Dumbledore stared at the girl for a moment but then continued with the ritual… he dared not stop. The yellow eyes in the shadows had multiplied and appeared to grow stronger with each scream of the Dark Lord's voice.

Pouring the last of the dragon's blood over the twitching form, Dumbledore watched as the ritual pulled the blood and swirling magic inside the wound through the heart of the 'innocent' girl and into the carcass of the basilisk. The headmaster had completed the terrible ritual.

Suddenly, black smoke from above slammed into the girl's form and she woke once more to curse Dumbledore. Across Britain, other artefacts were destroyed and one boy collapsed for a short while when a scar on his forehead erupted with black smoke and a tar like substance.

In total, there were six times that a shadow arrived and woke the girl with the voice of Tom Riddle. Each time she shouted at Dumbledore with no effect as the ritual pulled the magic from the girl's body into the carcass of the basilisk. The last one, a small and weak looking wisp of smoke arrived and slammed into the child's corpse.

Each time her eyes opened, Dumbledore demanded, "Tom? How is this possible?"

"I can't be killed Dumbledore! My possession of this stupid child was complete before Christmas!" shouted the voice. "The boy killed my diary but I possessed enough of the girl to kill her soul and take over!"

Again, she screamed with Tom's voice, "I was to be the greatest Dark Lady ever born! And now you've screwed everything again!"

The form struggled after that last shadow appeared in the Chamber of Secrets, shank into the girl's body and then vanished into the ritual. And now the girl's body began to shrink, as she was pulled into the wound in the side of the basilisk.

"No!" Tom's voice shouted. "This is not possible! I can't be killed!"

Dumbledore stood frozen as the last of the body of Ginevra Weasley vanished into the basilisk. The yellow eyes from the shadows appeared to hesitate and then to disappear.

Consequences of a Botched Ritual

There was one immediate consequence of performing the powerful ritual that consumed 'an innocent'; Fawkes broke free of her cage in Dumbledore's personal quarters and flew to the nearest magical creature who could help her to break the bond with Albus Dumbledore.

The second consequence was the reaction of the wards that protected Hogwarts. As headmaster, Dumbledore 'felt' each ward and immediately after the conclusion of the ritual, he felt the wards against dark magic – even as weak as he'd permitted them to become, begin to tingle along his spine. With each second the warning grew stronger.

'_Banish it or invoke the magic here?'_ Dumbledore wondered. According to the book, the magic would rise as a visible spell above the carcass and wait for his command to proceed. The magic would not wait for long once visible but now Dumbledore grew concerned; he'd have to move this monstrous carcass elsewhere or be disabled by the wards.

'_I should have disabled the wards for the day…'_

He lifted his wand – the powerful Elder wand – and attempted to banish the carcass to a deserted island in the Hebrides Islands, just west of Scotland. His intention was to follow and invoke the magic from there.

The wand appeared to cast the spell but the carcass did not response to the magic and lay there. Above the spot where Ginevra's body had been placed, where the sword of Gryffindor stuck out of the carcass of the basilisk, a light began to form.

Pulling a lemon drop out of his pocket, Albus made the sour candy into the most powerful portkey he'd ever made; he pulled power from his core, from the wand's core, and from the powerful magic that lay underneath Hogwarts. Then stepping closer, Albus Dumbledore touched the enchanted carcass of the basilisk with one hand and popped the port key into his mouth with the other.

For a moment, the wards faltered and the magical castle appeared in the muggle world before the magic pushed the headmaster and his enchanted basilisk away. The power of the portkey and the wards snapping back into place overloaded all the detection monitors in the ministry underneath London.

Dumbledore held onto the carcass as the portkey spun him around… and around… much longer than he expected to reach the deserted island in the Hebrides chain.

The third consequence of the botched ritual was that Hogwarts severed all ties with Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore forever. The castle would never allow the man to step foot back on the grounds let alone enter the door or arrive via floo, apparition, or portkey.

At the Burrow

Fred and George Weasley were mischievous to an extreme seldom found in wizards – their creativity and energy ran contrary to the usual wizard's interest but an outside observer would have remarked that the same vein of industriousness appeared in each of their three older brothers.

They'd tested a new product to ease-drop on conversations in other rooms that morning and overheard the headmaster whisk their mother and only sister away to Hogwarts for some ritual to clean her of dark magic. At lunch their mum was home but there was no sign of Ginny.

In the middle of the afternoon, they asked. "Mum, when is Ginny coming home?"

Molly looked up from her knitting and said, "She'll be home before supper. She never likes to eat with the Lovegoods."

"The Lovegoods?" asked one twin.

"Yes, she's visiting Luna this afternoon."

"Did she go there after you took her to Hogwarts?" asked the other twin.

"Hogwarts? What do you mean?" asked Molly without stopping her knitting.

"Dumbledore…" began the first twin.

"Headmaster Dumbledore!" insisted Molly. With the announcement of Percy's position as Head Boy, the Weasley family would honour Albus Dumbledore above all other wizards next year.

"…came here this morning and he took you and Ginny back to Hogwarts with him after making Percy the happiest book worm in all of Britain," the second twin continued.

"Hogwarts? No… I never left the house this morning. Ginny walked over to Luna Lovegood's house to visit."

"Mom, you told us the other day that the Lovegoods were off hunting a weird animal in Sweden this month," insisted the first twin.

"What?" Molly asked as suddenly different facts began to overwhelm her. She fainted and Fred called for Percy while George stepped to the floo to call Bill at Gringotts.

"Call Dad!" Percy ordered once George reached Bill. The newly minted Head Boy had revived his mother and guided her to a comfortable chair.

The flames grew bright green as first Bill Weasley and then Arthur Weasley stepped through the floo.

Where in the World is Albus Dumbledore?

**(7 July 1993) **

When he stopped spinning, Albus Dumbledore collapsed to the ground – it took him a long minute for the spinning in his head to stop and allow him to look up without throwing up. The Elder wand was within reach so he immediately grabbed it, leaving it in his hand. Then he looked around and found the carcass of the giant basilisk twisted around several large, tropical trees beside a large steam. The air was humid and smelled of rotting foliage, the sunlight filtered through the canopy of leaves was bright and hot. Birds seemed to be calling, yelling and flying about wildly.

'_Where in the world?'_ he wondered for a moment only before pushing himself to his feet. _'This certainly isn't the Hebrides!' _

Fearful for a moment that he'd travelled in time, the wizard cast tempus and barely got a reaction – '1993' was all he could read from the spell.

'_Must move,'_ he decided and quickly surveyed the forest for a path he could use. Finding a game path, he immediately cast an invisibility and scent suppression spell that both flickered and barely took hold – he was shadowy and his smell was altered to that of the rotting carcass of the basilisk.

Glancing at the carcass where the weak light of the invocation had once again formed above the spot where the sword of Gryffindor still stuck out of the basilisk, Dumbledore raised the elder wand and commanded, 'Invocatio! Idcirco praecipio tibi ut invocent!" (Invoke! I command you to invoke!)

Then he turned and walked away as quickly as he could.

Behind him, the light above the carcass grew slightly brighter but then fell back into the carcass where there were rumblings before the skin broke open and a red, smelly fluid ran out and onto the ground. More and more of the liquid came from the large carcass and reached the stream. The afternoon rain washed the cursed basilisk fluid into the stream. When the rain stopped, the sunlight returned and evaporated the red fluid that had mixed with the rain water.

The stream moved the cursed fluid into the Marañón River, in northern Peru. Winds and water carried the curse across the land along the Amazon River basin.

Weasley Distress

**(7 July 1993) **

With a successful curse-breaker for an eldest son, Arthur Weasley had high hopes for each of his other children. Charlie made a good start with dragon handlers and was up for promotion to a 'manager' position in one of the preserves around the world in the next year or so.

Today, the news at lunchtime had been that Percy was named as Head Boy for his seventh year at Hogwarts and Arthur burst with pride the whole afternoon until the call from George. Rushing home, Arthur left the ministry behind when he heard that Molly had fainted.

"She's been obliviated Dad. And there's a compulsion spell on her also, a powerful one," Bill explained after he examined his mother.

"Can you reverse the obliviation?"

"Only over a couple hours… but this is a very powerful charm and it'll take all of my power for at least a day," Bill admitted. "I'll need permission from the bank to use it for something personal."

"If you report this as a crime, the DMLE can reverse the spell this afternoon," Percy told his father and brother.

Fred and George were silent for once and Ron used his mother's silence as permission to raid the cooling cabinet. There was left-over chicken from last night!

Arthur shook his head in denial, "No, we don't want to claim that Dumbledore…"

"Dad," Fred interrupted. "Ginny went with Mum and Dumbledore to Hogwarts. Mum came back and thinks she didn't go and that Gin is over at the Lovegood house."

"Xeno and Luna are in Sweden," George continued. "We'll go look but we don't think she's over there."

"The clock!" Arthur declared as he ran into the lounge where Molly kept the magical artefact that tracked each member of the family.

The hand on the clock for Ginevra lay on the floor, shrivelled and black. Arthur managed to pick it up before Bill stepped close to guide his father to a chair.

"Call the DMLE at the ministry," whispered Arthur. "Something terrible has happened."

The DMLE showed up in force at the Burrow over the course of the afternoon; once the initial Aurors reported that Albus Dumbledore was suspected of kidnapping one of his students, additional Aurors and the Oblivation squad appeared. The Obliviators carefully reversed the powerful charm that had been used on Molly Weasley.

As her full memories came back to her, Molly explained, "He said… he said he could reverse the contamination of the dark magic from the last year… I took Ginny to Hogwarts, bathed her and dressed her in a linen smock…"

Molly looked up, her eyes wild for a moment, "Ginny tried to hide behind me. She said she didn't been to be cleansed of dark magic… My baby knew something was wrong but I didn't listen to her!"

One of the Aurors fed Molly a dreamless sleep potion before she could become hysterical while the other Aurors turned to Arthur and Bill.

The Lead Auror explained, "Something happened at Hogwarts today. About 11:30, some wizard used an overpowered Portkey and broke through all the international wards in Europe. We don't know where he landed, but it wasn't in Europe."

"You think it was Dumbledore?"

The Auror shrugged. "Our best guess is that it was Dumbledore because he is powerful and he can pull all the power of Hogwarts into his spells as Headmaster."

"But you haven't heard anything from him?" asked Bill.

"No. In fact, we've heard nothing from anyone at Hogwarts. We found Madam Pence at a relative's home in London and to her knowledge, the only person still in the castle is Albus Dumbledore. Every other member of the faculty left for vacation or conferences."

"Why was it your daughter needed to be cleansed of dark magic, Mr. Weasley?"

Frowning Arthur explained about the possessed diary, the ghost of the Dark Lord and the reported basilisk.

"And Dumbledore didn't tell anyone!" Bill yelled. "Merlin's oath! There's no way Ginny wasn't contaminated! Gringotts could clear that… And wait… A basilisk?"

Bill turned to one Auror and asked, "Can you get an Unspeakable to come here? Now?"

The lead Auror seemed to think for a moment before he sent a Patronus message; a white collie sped away from the Burrow and only five minutes later, a grey-hooded wizard entered the wards.

Bill, the Unspeakable and the Lead Auror shared information behind a privacy charm while Arthur sat with his twins and Percy as they were questioned and their memories of the headmaster's visit copied for review at the Ministry. He grew anxious as Bill was becoming agitated with his arms waving about.

He noticed his eldest son's face became grey and he wrapped his arms around himself, something his strong son would only do if the news was especially bad.

"Have you sent anyone to Hogwarts?" Bill asked.

The Lead Auror grimaced and explained, "We mentioned earlier that there's no one there. The castle's locked up tighter than a vault in Gringotts on a Sunday morning."

"Where are the professors?" the panicky curse-breaker asked.

"We don't know," the man admitted.

"Who would know the most about the past year and your sister's experience at Hogwarts?" asked the Unspeakable.

"Ron, my youngest brother," Bill replied and looked around for his sibling.

The privacy charm dissipated and Bill asked, "Dad, where's Ron?"

"I sent him upstairs to keep him from eating everything in the kitchen."

Bill went to the foot of the stairs and called for Ron. There was no answer so he climbed the stairs. A minute later there was a slamming door, and a reluctant 12-year-old stomping down the stairs followed by his eldest brother.

"I don't know anything about today! As soon as I saw Dumbledore, I left the house and hid until he left with Mom and Ginny."

That's fine, Mr. Weasley," the Lead Auror replied with a firm nod of his head. "We're interested in your knowledge of what happened at Hogwarts… with a basilisk and your sister."

Ron hesitated for a moment before Bill said, "Tell the Auror the truth, don't exaggerate and don't leave anything out, and I will take you to Fortescue's for as much ice cream as you can eat."

A wide grin on his face, Ron began, "Well, you see, there was something in the school petrifying students this year. Harry Potter, he's my best friend, and I tried to find out what is was…"

After Ron's story was completed with some correction by Percy to include Hermione's role, and by George and Fred explaining about the 'Heir of Slytherin' bruhaha that followed Harry around all year, the Unspeakable had to sit down.

He removed his hood to expose his face before he looked at Bill Weasley and said, "It sounds like a horcrux for certain. And a basilisk! Merlin damn him to hell; Dumbledore should have brought us in immediately! We have scans, tests… we can find… The children wouldn't have been in danger."

The Lead Auror stepped close to Arthur's chair – the wizard had moved to sit beside his sleeping wife on the sofa and hold her hand.

"Mr. Weasley…"

Arthur looked up to the man's face and said, "My daughter is dead."

He held up the blackened hand from the clock. "Nothing and no one can bring her back. My family will mourn and I want justice for my dead child."

"Yes sir, I'm going now to report to Director Bones and she will make a statement to the press and update the minister. I suggest you close your floo to everyone but family and I will leave two guards here to protect you from the press for the next few days."

"Thank you," Arthur said as he moved his eyes to look over his boys and then his sleeping wife. Tomorrow morning would be very hard.

Bill stepped close and said, "Dad, I'll take the boys to Fortescue's for dinner."

"Yes!" Ron said but then cried "Oi!" as Fred and George both slapped the back of his head.

"Ginny's gone…

"…dead if what Dad thinks is true."

"And all you can think about is food?"

"Dead?" asked Ron. "No! She's not dead? Harry and me rescued her from the Chamber of Secrets! We went down there and we saved her!"

"Ginny's gone, Ron," Arthur told his youngest son and when the boy began to cry, his Dad took him in his arms. Bill went to Fortescue's and brought 'take away' with ice cream but the Weasleys only picked at their dinners and some of the ice cream melted and ran along the table top to drip onto the kitchen floor.

Lost in South America

**(8-12 July 1993) **

Slowly regaining power in his core, Albus apparated in small, blind hops across the jungle avoiding muggle cities and towns. He spent a day trying to apparate across the Amazon and only succeeded in getting a terrible sunburn that distracted his next apparition, leaving him high in the Andes Mountains. It took a day but he carefully made his way to the magical district in La Paz, the capital of Bolivia. There he found an apparition point with a current map. Silently admitting to himself that he didn't understand geography, the wizard had to retrace his steps.

It took the rest of that day for him to recover enough to apparate back into Brazil and eventually to the magical district in Natal, along the Atlantic Coast. Once again, Dumbledore consulted a combination of muggle maps and magical books to determine the way back to Europe and then to Great Britain. His journey required him to make a single apparition across the 1800 miles of ocean from South America to Sierra Leone in western Africa.

"I have always wanted to see Casablanca," he told the wizard who processed him at the apparition point in Natal. He'd finally begun to wonder why there hadn't been any report of 'magical' powers appearing among the muggles.

'_Perhaps it will only be in the next generation?'_ he mused. He refused to consider the possibility that the presence of Tom's soul had ruined his spell.

With some boost from the local site (for a galleon), he'd arrived in one piece in the magical district in Freeport, the capital of the small nation of Sierra Leone.

Dumbledore was a wanted wizard by that time – after four days of wandering around South America with unauthorized apparitions, he'd attracted the attention of the ICW agents and they tracked him from the moment he apparated across the Atlantic Ocean. Aurors began following him from Freeport as he made his way up the coast to Morocco. After two days of rest in the magical district of Casablanca, he went to the apparition sight and made the jump to Gibraltar. The moment he landed at the Magical district in this UK territory, he was arrested by Aurors and sent to ICW in Geneva.

**(16-24 July) **

Locked up in an ICW cell in Geneva, Switzerland for some unknown reason, Albus had time to reflect on the ritual he'd performed in the Chamber of Secrets. Rather than putting any idea on paper where other eyes might see his notes, Albus meditated and kept his secrets deep within his own mind. He reviewed the incantations, the ingredients…

'_Oh dear, I left that book open on my desk. Hope no one breaks into my office… The portraits! Damnation! Some of them can read letters on my desk… Have they awakened?'_

After convincing himself that everything at Hogwarts was under control, Albus slowly recalled each piece of the ritual and the what 'Ginevra' had shouted when she woke up.

'_Tom's soul was divided. That explains the number of times he woke up and the number of times the spell had to consume him,'_ he decided. Then Albus counted the number of times the girl's body had awakened with Tom's voice shouting at him, _'1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7…'_

He stood in from the chair in his comfortable cell and paced back and forth, _'I killed all the parts of Tom Riddle's soul! I defeated Lord Voldemort! Me! The greatest wizard since Merlin!'_

Smiling Dumbledore began major revisions to his statement he'd make to his 'peers' on the ICW Council. After hearing of his accomplishments, they'd award him another Order of Merlin.

'_No, that's not enough!'_

With a smile on his face, Albus decided the Mugwump Council would create a new award and call it 'The Order of Dumbledore!'


	3. Chapter 3 Hagrid Part 3

Hagrid Part 3: Investigating the Chamber

A new headmaster is named at Hogwarts and the Founders appear in their long-lost portrait. (Their personalities are very different than what people thought they'd be but, hey, they're a thousand years old.) People who Hagrid can count on are summoned to Hogwarts to help cleanse the castle.

**(12 July 1993) **

Hagrid carried his staff in his hand as he approached Hogwarts. The doors opened immediately for him and elves appeared to guide him to the girl's bathroom on the third floor.

Taking a deep breath and staring at the engraving of a serpent on the tap, he hissed, {Open}.

The sink slid apart and revealed a dark tunnel with a particularly foul odour.

{Stairs for me and lights!} he commanded with a slight tap of his staff on the floor. Hagrid was pleased when appropriately spaced stairs appeared with enough lights to show him the way down. Hurrying down the stairs, Hagrid found the way blocked by a collapsed ceiling but his staff helped him quickly clear a safe passage through the rubble.

Venturing further into the Chamber of Secrets, Hagrid found the location of the ritual – the shadows around it still housed the yellow eyes of something – the spirits of dead basilisks or demons the half-giant decided.

"I must set this to rights… the earth is corrupted by the spell Dumbledore did…" Hagrid muttered. He stamped his staff against the floor of the chamber and the yellow eyes vanished. Then he raised the staff and called for light; he got a bright light that would rival Fawkes spreading forth from his staff and banishing every corrupted shadow in the chamber.

Once the shadows were empty of the 'watchers', Hagrid turned and left the chamber, extinguishing the lights behind him leaving the chamber once again in darkness but without the evil presence of the spirits. At the stairs he began his climb and found himself praying to Mother Magic and the Muggle God with each step to protect the innocent children who would return to Hogwarts in September.

When he left the bathroom, the stairs and last lights disappeared, and the sink closed. At that moment he remembered that there was a ghost who inhabited this bathroom. He attempted to call her but there was no response.

Hagrid returned to the entrance hall and as he walked, he called out the name of every ghost who resided in the castle. None of them appeared.

"Gertie, can you help me?" Hagrid called from the main doors to Hogwarts.

"Yes, Mr. Not-Wizard Headmaster Hagrid?" asked the little elf as she popped into the room.

"What?" asked the groundskeeper with a suddenly high-pitched voice. Headmaster?

Gertie grinned and pointed at Hagrid. "Youse be headmaster now. Hogwarts picked the not-wizard who built the wall around castle to protect us."

Wishing he had a chair, Hagrid felt one of appropriate size appear behind him. He promptly sat in the chair and turned toward Gertie who snapped her fingers and made a table appear with a mug of ale and a pitcher with more. After a long drink, Hagrid sat the mug back on the table.

"Gertie, where are the ghosts? Moaning Myrtle is missing and the Baron didn't appear when I called him."

"The ghosties all banished to forever when Whiskers performed his evil rituals… they can't stay here 'cause it makes them hurt bad."

Nodding his head, Hagrid took one more drink from the mug. Then he stood and began his work.

"I must… 'we' must banish the evil magic that was done in the Chamber of Secrets," Hagrid informed the elf who was suddenly joined by the head elf.

"Headmaster Hagrid, we's must talk to Founders," stated Crusty, an ancient elf. "Whiskers never listened to Founders and looks where that got us."

Crusty and Gertie led Hagrid to a plain wall beside the doors to the Great Hall. They looked at Hagrid and then back at the wall, motioning with their hands toward the stones.

The voice in his head said, 'Touch the wall with your staff.'

Swallowing, Hagrid reached out his staff and touched the stone wall; he felt the head of the staff sink slightly into the stone and when he pulled it back, the staff's magic broke a spell that concealed a large portrait. There were four figures sleeping in the picture frame – two men and two women dressed in robes from a thousand years in the past.

Gertie giggled as more portraits appeared on the walls around Hogwarts – former professors and wizards who disagreed with Dumbledore over the years. Crusty snapped his fingers four times as Hogwarts magic settled into the portraits and awakened the founders.

It took the portraits a few minutes to update their 'English' using Hogwarts magic again and they began exchanging horrified whispers as they 'felt' the status of the wards and 'tasted' the magic of recent events.

Helga Hufflepuff stepped to the forefront and spoke sharply to Hagrid beginning with, "How long have you been headmaster?"

"Uh… I just was told a minute or two ago…"

"Head elf, explain this mess!" commanded the formidable witch. Hagrid was sorely tested to understand the rapid, broken English as Crusty explained the current state of the castle and the recent events. Apparently, the portraits didn't have any problems translating elvish speech.

In the portrait, Rowena picked up a large book and began to strike Salazar Slytherin in the head as the wizard rose and tried to escape the picture frame. Helga nodded to Crusty who snapped his fingers and locked the founders into their current portrait frame.

"You promised me you got rid of that basilisk!" Rowena screamed at Salazar. "That's the only reason I ever let you return to Hogwarts! You promised me Sal! You promised, you rotten, piss-poor wizard!"

Godric Gryffindor grinned but remained silent when Helga shot him a look.

"You've got nothing to snicker about," she told the fourth founder. "Your head of house is a complete failure. Her lions flounder and have to go to the other heads of house for guidance."

"We can clear it all up…"

"Yes, 'we' will," Helga assured the man who returned to his seat and smiled pleasantly at Hagrid as Rowena beat Salazar into unconsciousness with an updated edition of Hogwarts, A History.

"That's the best use for that piece of propaganda in the last fifty years," Helga said.

"Enough, Ro! Enough!" she demanded as the taller witch stepped back and threw the book to the floor.

"When this poor excuse for wizard wakes up, I'll be having more words with him about setting his house to rights… Or I'll get some of that basilisk venom…" the portrait began to swear before her memories were updated and she turned to Helga with horror on her face.

"No! That pimple faced Dumbledore boy didn't invoke that spell! Tell me he didn't!"

Helga simply frowned and Rowena began to cry.

"Save the tears for later," Hufflepuff ordered. "We must help the new headmaster cleanse the castle and take control of the wards before 'he' tries to return."

"How soon can you summon ye clan, Headmaster Hagrid?" asked Rowena Ravenclaw's portrait.

Summon Ye Clan

"Clan? Uh, I don't have a clan…"

Helga shook her head and said, "You must have some wizards and witches you trust to help with the cleansing."

"There are students who helped me plant the wall around the castle and helped me with finishing the wall in the forest. There are a couple of the professors who are honest and only care about the students."

"Can we speak to them?" asked Rowena.

"Everyone's gone home for the summer," Hagrid replied though he didn't like the look on Helga Hufflepuff's face.

"House elf!" Helga called.

"Yes, Mistress Huffs?" asked Crusty when he popped back into the entrance hall.

"Headmaster Hagrid needs writing materials… never mind… bring some parchment, ink and sticks here…"

"We's use quills now," Crusty replied. The use of quills had been introduced to British magicals just after the Founders passed away.

"A thousand years and no one has improved writing?" asked Rowena from beside Helga.

"Oh, the muggles got wonderful writing tools and the smoothest paper you've ever seen," Hagrid explained.

"Get some!" Rowena commanded. In the background, Hagrid noticed that Godric Gryffindor motioned with his hand for Salazar Slytherin to stay down behind the chair that hid most of his portrait.

Gertie and Crusty were able to provide ink pens (brios) and lined school paper from the come-n-go room's contents.

"Look at that!" squealed Rowena when the ink flowed across the paper without blotches or smears. Rather than discuss the brilliance of muggle writing utensils, Helga and Hagrid concentrated on letters to Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, Neville Longbottom and his grandmother, Luna Lovegood and her father, and Harry Potter.

"And what about the Head Boy and the Head Girl?" Rowena suggested. "They'll add a lot of power to any ritual."

Crusty said, "Hogwarts agrees with Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater for Head Boy and Head Girl."

Hagrid sighed, "Those are Dumbledore's picks."

"And Hoggiewarts agrees with the pick," Crusty said in an insistent manner. "We sees how they works with Headmaster Non-Wizard Hagrid before we changes."

Rather than waiting on owls to deliver the letters, Helga instructed Hagrid to call elves, give each elf a boost of power from the castle, and send them off to the members of his 'clan'. When they came to the last letter, Harry Potter's letter, they found that none of the elves could find where the Boy-Who-Lived spent his summers.

Gertie began dancing with excitement after a moment and explained, "The Great Harry Potters freed Dobby Elf from terrible mean nasty Malfoys who send terrible, bad soul jar to kill innocent, powerful muggleborns at Hoggiewarts. Dobby Elf can finds Harry Potter!"

"Dobby Elf! We need you!" Hagrid called.

Flitwick

Filius Flitwick was in Vienna, contemplating joining the duelling circuit for the next month. He'd enjoyed spending the last three weeks duelling with prospective contestants in their preliminary rounds to be selected for the contests. As a three-time past champion, he had a spot on the round-robin competitions as long as he wanted.

But something seemed off this summer… He kept looking over his shoulder as though expecting something to come barrelling out of the shadows to run him down. A brief visit with goblin cousins confirmed they were nervous as well.

With the distinctive pop of house elf magic, one of the Hogwarts elves appeared in front of him with a letter that once read, set Filius on his backside. After five minutes thought, he dismissed the elf with the message that he'd return to Hogwarts the later today. Then he made his excuses to the Duelling Committee, found his trunk already packed compliments of the Hogwarts elf, and then walked to the apparition point in Vienna's magical district to begin the trip back to Britain.

Sprout

In a magical garden in Newfoundland across the pond from Britain, Pomona Sprout began an early day by examining several varieties of tomatoes that had been bred to sprout, grow, and produce fruit in the cold and dark northern latitudes.

"And is the flavour consistent with the original strains?" she asked. "I had some green peppers that grew in the winter light but they tasted like rocks… the only creatures who would eat them were hungry nifflers."

The wizard selling the seeds provided a plant full of fruit and Pomona cast spells to verify the genus of the tomato and then picked and ate one of the tomatoes. It was a little flat but with spices and onions, it could be used to make a decent sauce in the dead of winter to feed hungry children.

"I'll take two pounds of the seeds…"

"Two pounds?" the wizard repeated. "That's enough seeds for the whole of Newfoundland to…"

Professor Sprout smiled serenely and added, "I can pay with Gringotts gold this very minute."

"I will package the seeds," the wizard said. While he was gone, a house elf from Hogwarts appeared with a letter that she handed over. Sprout read it quickly and then turned to the elf.

"Hagrid is now headmaster?"

"Yes, Mistress Plants, Not-Wizard Headmaster Hagrid wields a might staff and commands the wards and elves. We's needs you to help clean up mess left by Whiskers."

"Not surprising that Whiskers left a mess… And it'll be fun to watch Minerva cough up a hairball or two when she finds she's not headmistress…" She smiled at the elf and told him she'd be there late in the day.

Before she left the nursery, Pomona also purchased some experimental wheat, maize, cabbage, and cucumber seeds. With a promise to correspond with the wizard running the facility, she returned to her hotel in St. Johns. Her trunks were packed so she shrank them and checked out of the hotel before making her way to the apparition point and beginning her trip home via Iceland and then London.

Lovegood

Luna Lovegood began packing her clothes and the kitchen utensils as soon as she finished washing up from breakfast. When Xeno noticed he asked, "Today?"

"The elf will be here this afternoon and we will be home before nightfall."

"And then off again in the morning."

I'll get an elf to pack the house for us," Luna said. "We can put it in stasis for a couple years."

"I'll miss studying new animals," Xeno said sadly and was very surprised when his daughter laughed.

"You'll get to write a book that Newt Scamander will want to get autographed!"

When the elf appeared, Luna took the letter and said, "Yes, tell Headmaster Hagrid that we'll be there today."

The elf blinked because the young witch didn't even open and read the letter.

Weasley

Percy was conflicted when the elf appeared in the kitchen of the Burrow. He took the letter and then told his mother about the request for the Head Boy to hurry to Hogwarts. His mother began screaming about Dumbledore killing another of her children, Ron ran from the room, while Percy to the floo to call his father home.

The twins attempted to calm their mother but she refused to stop screaming, threatened to burn the letter, and then she began to plan on storming Hogwarts to find Dumbledore and castrating him with her knitting needles.

Arthur came through the flames and once he calmed his wife with a potion and then a sleeping spell, he sat at the kitchen table and asked to read the letter. Percy handed it over and said, "I'm sorry but I had no idea what was in it when the elf appeared."

The floo flashed green flames again as DMLE Director Amelia Bones came through followed by Terrance Stamp, a senior Auror working on the case of the kidnapping and presumed murder of Ginevra Weasley.

"Arthur, we heard scuttlebutt you'd received a letter from Albus Dumbledore," Bones said as she approached the kitchen table.

"Not from Dumbledore," Arthur replied as he handed the letter back to Percy. "My son Percival was named Head Boy by… Well, he's got the job of Head Boy for the next school year."

"And the letter?" asked Auror Stamp.

Percy said, "I'll let you see it but I want it back."

"Certainly Mr Weasley," Stamp replied and though Ron snickered to hear 'Percy' referred to as 'Mr Weasley', the twins remained silent. Their attitudes toward such comments changed with the death of their sister.

"Director, this letter purports to be from Headmaster Rubeus Hagrid asking Mr Weasley to bring his trunk to Hogwarts as soon as possible to help 'cleanse' the castle."

"Hagrid? The half-giant? Does he even have a wand?" Bones asked.

"He can't be headmaster!" Ron insisted. "He's just the dirty groundskeeper… he opens the gate for visitors!"

"Whatever Dumbledore did certainly created confusion if Hogwarts made the half-giant headmaster. The Wizengamot will order us to storm the castle," Stamp told the others.

Percy heard a voice in his head telling him to trust the castle.

"That would be very foolish, Auror Stamp," the new Head Boy said. "You would do much better to investigate the situation before you trigger an attack that would leave most of the Aurors dead or in St. Mungo's for months."

Amelia Bones smiled, pleased to see some Slytherin appearing in another house.

"Mr Weasley, if your father will allow, please pack your trunk and proceed to Hogwarts immediately. I will have Stamp side-along apparate you to Hogsmeade and you can walk up to the castle from there. Keep me informed of your observations. If I need to send Aurors, send an elf to me personally," she ordered. Stamp returned Percy's letter and acknowledged the director's orders.

Arthur glanced once again at his sleeping wife before looking up at his third son standing beside the table. Children grew up too quickly but they did grow and this was Percy's choice.

"What do you want to do, Percy?"

"I'm going. If Penny went without me… I need to be there."

Fred and George followed Percy up the stairs and provided him with three of their best secret weapons – blindness dust, swamp balls, and improved canary cremes (the eater remained a canary for over two hours before transforming back).

"Call us if you need us brother," George said.

"We'll be there in a hurry," Fred confirmed and Percy hugged each twin, leaving a sign on the back of their robes that said 'Kick Me' spelled to remain there for the rest of the day. Even if they changed robes, the sign would appear on their robes.

Clearwater

At the Clearwater home, Penny had completed her summer homework, read through Percy's last two letters, and decided they should find a project to work on together for the rest of the summer. She smiled thinking about the boy's plans for them being Head Boy and Head Girl. He was ambitious and hard-working while she took a longer look at things and would temper his actions with more thought.

When the elf appeared, ignoring the house's wards completely, she dropped her ink pen and shouted. The elf shouted and her father ran into the room, his wand drawn.

"Wait… it's just an elf from Hogwarts," Penny told her father but the little fellow had run behind the sofa and scrunched down to be very small.

When she found him behind the furniture, Penny said, "We're sorry. You surprised and scared me. That's why my father drew his wand. But we won't hurt you."

"Missy First Girl, promises Horsey?"

Smiling suddenly to be called 'First Girl', Penny promised most profusely that nothing would be done to punish the elf.

Penny praised the elf saying, "You are very brave to have stayed until we cleared up the misunderstanding."

The little elf emerged from behind the sofa and drew an envelope that was twice as big as he was from his Hogwarts tunic and handed it to Penny. She handed it to her father who read it, looked pleased, surprised, and then incredulous.

"Congratulations dear, you've been named as Head Girl for the next school year. They need you to come to Hogwarts immediately – today – and that's at the request of the new headmaster, Rubeus Hagrid."

"Hagrid?" Penny asked before she looked at the elf, Horsey if she remembered correctly, who nodded his head and grinned.

"Headmaster Not-Wizard Hagrid selected by Hogwarts and by portraits of the Founders!" insisted the little elf.

"I'll pack a bag and send for the rest of my robes tomorrow," Penny said, watching her thoughtful father carefully. He was involved with the Department of Mysteries and knew many things that he couldn't discuss at home.

"And I'll take you to the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade and walk you up to the castle myself," Daniel Clearwater told his daughter.

She frowned before her father grinned and said, "I have to put the fear of Mordred in Percival Weasley. He'll know better than to take advantage of my little girl."

Now Penny smiled and rushed to her room to find Horsey there already packing her trunk.

"Missy First Girl must be prepared for all robe situations," Horsey replied as he finished the packing, locked and then shrank the trunk. Penny placed the trunk into a pocket, grabbed her wrist holder for her wand and hurried back downstairs.

Longbottom

Neville was writing in his Herbology Journal for Professor Sprout about the success of elves in planting the walls around the Longbottom farms and fields as well as the house.

**A second set of protections are already in place around each of the farm houses and our manor with the old Holly shrubs that were planted a century ago. With the use of some spells and fertilizer, these plants have thrown up impenetrable walls around each building. They merely have to be encouraged to cover the doors and nothing can get through.**

When a Hogwarts elf appeared in his bedroom, Neville was surprised but also interested, so he eagerly took the envelope from the little elf. Opening the letter, Neville read it twice and nodded to the elf.

"I'll be there today," he said as he hurried from the room searching for his grandmother.

Lady Longbottom reviewed the Hogwarts budget for the next year. Her frown grew deeper as she noted that Dumbledore expected the Governors to fund his wardrobe. Pulling out a copy of the Wizengamot budget, she found the same expense listed for the Grand Wizard.

"After all these years, I've finally got you!" she sneered. "Double dipping to buy those ghastly robes…"

Bursting into the room, Neville announced, "Gran, I need to go to Hogwarts for a few days."

Looking up, her forehead furrowed with thought, she asked, "Why do you need to go back to school in July?"

Neville grinned, "The new headmaster has summoned his clan to cleanse the castle of Dumbledore's terrible ritual. I'm one of Headmaster Rubeus Hagrid's clan and I am summoned!"

"But… you… he…"

"Sorry, Gran, I'm summoned by the headmaster."

"Wait a minute! How can that half-giant be headmaster? He doesn't even have a wand!" Augusta Longbottom demanded rising to hurry after her grandson.

Potter

Harry had been back at Privet Drive for two unique and different weeks. His strange summer began on the ride back to London on the Hogwarts Express – Ron Weasley acted as if he'd been Harry's best friend all year and Hermione excused Headmaster Dumbledore from any responsibility with her petrification. Ginny Weasley sat with them but was silent and stared at Harry for several hours. The stares certainly creeped Harry out and the constant conversation by Ron and Hermione prevented Harry from being able to even think.

When he got up to walk about for a bit, Ron wanted to go with him. Harry told his sometime friend, 'No', leading to a big fight before Harry escaped and hid with Neville and Luna.

"I thought I'd never get away from Ron," Harry confessed. He noticed that Luna was silent and he remembered that she'd jerked away from Ginny at the train station in Hogsmeade. But Harry was a true friend and he'd let Luna talk about it when she was ready.

Neville was full of plans for his finishing his walls and expanding his gardens and greenhouses.

Luna mentioned that she and her father would portkey to Sweden to continue their search for new and weird magical creatures.

Once the train reached Kings Cross in London, everyone said their farewells and Harry made his way back to the muggle side where very uncharacteristically, Vernon waited patiently. And rather than berating the 'freak', his uncle was mostly silent and almost helpful with loading Harry's trunk in the boot and letting Harry place Hedwig's cage on the seat beside him.

Even more surprises awaited Harry at the Dursley home. Vernon locked up his trunk and wand, but Aunt Petunia merely nodded her head and said nothing to him, while Dudley ignored him. Then Vernon gave his nephew a reasonable number of chores to complete each week – not an impossible list for each day. He wasn't locked in his room and though he did a lot of the cooking, he was well-fed for the first time ever by his relatives.

Harry began to suspect something magical was at work when Dudley would get an extra dessert on days he'd not tried to kick, hit, or smack his cousin. He noticed that Vernon's suits were pressed perfectly each morning, stains disappeared from his shirts, and strangely, Petunia had a smile on her face most mornings.

At the end of the day, when he returned to his room after finishing mowing the front and back yards, Harry found his school books, summer assignments, and best of all, his wand laying on his bed. There was a wrist holder there as well and Harry quickly fastened the holder on his arm and slid the wand into the holder.

There was small pop and Harry turned to find Dobby Elf standing there, shaking in fear.

In his room earlier that day, Harry hadn't yelled at Dobby – he'd hugged the little elf.

"Thank you, Dobby. Thanks for everything you've done," Harry said as the little elf cried with joy.

"Mr. Harry Potters thanks worthless Dobby…"

"Now, no more tears," Harry insisted. "You are not worthless. You're helping me! But how can you do this magic and not get caught by the ministry? Are the Aurors going to show up in another minute or two?"

"Elf magic not watched unless elf wants it to be watched."

"Whew... I'm glad to hear that."

"What have you done to make Petunia and Vernon leave me alone?"

"They's be 'cheerful' to everyone, and 'horny' for each others, and ignores Harry Potters."

The Boy-Who-Lived blushed blood red to hear Dobby say his aunt and uncle…

"Uh… okay but don't tell me any more about it."

Dobby nodded in agreement. "Dobby makes them happy and leave my Harry Potters alone the whole summer."

The next week, Harry discovered that Hedwig was charmed to not carry letters to Neville Longbottom. After checking the insulted owl, Dobby explained, "Whiskers only lets Miss Hedwig carry letters to Miss Kitty, Mouth Weasley, Miss Books, and himself."

"How can I get a letter to Neville?"

"If Dobby knew Mr Plants, he could take it to him, but Dobby never been to Mr Plants home before," the elf said in despair.

Harry hugged the elf again and said, "This is not your fault, Dobby! Old Whiskers is just a big, nosey, busy-body."

On 7 July, Harry collapsed in the back yard when his scar burst open and black blood dripped down his face.

"Dobby…"

The little elf appeared instantly and popped his Harry Potters into his bedroom where the elf cleaned up the mess, healed the now normal scar, and fed his friend chicken soup while telling him stories about the bad Malfoys.

Later in the afternoon, Dobby decided that his master needed a good supper and a quiet evening to recuperate so he carefully placed an idea in the minds of the Walrus and the Horse.

"Pet, shall we go out to dinner tonight," Vernon asked on when he returned home. "Dudley's been good this week and we could go to that buffet over in Greater Whinging…"

"Oh course, Vernon. Anything you want," Petunia said as she went to find Dudley. The Dursleys left within the hour and Vernon told Harry they'd probably visit the cinema after they ate supper and would be home around midnight.

As soon as the car was gone and the front door was locked, Dobby popped into the kitchen to prepare Harry Potter's favourite foods for his supper.

Beginning on 8 July Dobby popped to Diagon Alley to purchase the Daily Prophet and so, Harry read about the disturbance in the monitors across all of Britain. On 10 July the paper hinted that something had occurred at Hogwarts but Dobby could no longer pop into the school. The young wizard and his elf both watched the paper every morning for more news about the situation.

Finally, on 12 July, Dobby leapt up from the rose bush he was trimming while Harry was loosening the soil before applying fertilizer.

"Hoggiewarts calls Dobby. Dobby goes and comes right back!"

The elf popped away, leaving a perplexed Harry who saw Petunia at the front door with the first frown of the summer.

"Boy, my roses better be perfect for the weekend! People drive past this house just to see my roses in the summer!"

"Yes, Aunt Petunia," Harry replied and returned to work. He heard her flip the lock and wondered what had changed suddenly. He didn't have time to consider any of the possibilities because Dobby popped back with a letter.

"Let's go to the backyard," Harry said, leading the way around the house. There, Dobby handed his wizard the letter from Headmaster Hagrid.

**Harry, **

**Hogwarts and I need your assistance. I need to perform a simple ritual to cleanse the castle of something dark the White Bee did before he disappeared. Come today if possible and plan to stay for the rest of the summer.**

**Rubeus Hagrid, Headmaster Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. **

"Dobby, we're going to Hogwarts! And we're going to stay there for the rest of the summer!" Harry told his elf.

Harry ran into the house through the backdoor, slipped around his aunt who yelled about skipping chores, and climbed the stairs, avoiding Dudley who was in search of a snack. In his room, he found Dobby already packing the trunk, Hedwig on the windowsill waiting Harry's direction, and his tiny bedroom looking very lonely – Harry Potter was leaving Privet Drive.

"Hedwig, fly to Hogwarts. We'll be living there this summer. This place is never going to be home!"

With those words, the blood wards around the house fell. Dobby, Harry and Petunia felt the wards fall and Petunia screamed.

"Meet me out front Dobby," Harry said as he dashed out the bedroom door and then thundered down the stairs.

"I'm leaving Aunt Petunia. Thanks for…" Harry paused because he really wanted to curse her but there wasn't any time.

"Just thanks…"

"What did you do? I don't feel safe here…"

Harry grinned but didn't explain. He just waved goodbye, opened the front door and disappeared when Dobby popped him away.

Appearing in an alleyway several streets away, Dobby snickered and said, "Mr Harry Potters left mess in front yard… Roses get too much fertilizers today for certain. Lazy muggle won't puts away tools until neighbours yells at them."

Harry grinned thinking about Vernon or Dudley handling the bags of top soil and fertilizer. Then he asked, "How do we get to Hogwarts? I can't fly on my broomstick that far and you can't carry me that far at one time.

"We's take the Knight Bus," Dobby explained.

The Dursley family had a bad week after the 'freak' disappeared. Dudley had to complete two of the freak's chores – cleaning up the front yard and raking up the grass clippings. Vernon had a flat tire on the way to work, lost a major account in India, and Petunia lost her morning smile. Vernon was too tired in the evenings and not in the mood to make her feel better any longer.

Gathering the Clan

A varied group of travellers arrived in front of the door of the Three Broomsticks tavern in Hogsmeade. First to arrive via apparition were Percy Weasley with Auror Terrence Stamp. They were quickly joined by Xeno and Luna Lovegood travelling in the same manner. Then the door to the tavern opened to allow Penelope and Daniel Clearwater, and Neville and Augusta Longbottom to exit. Augusta was casting spells to remove the cinders that seemed to always cling to Neville when they travelled via the floo.

"Penny!" Percy shouted and ran over, stopping short of hugging her and remembering to bow and greet her father appropriately before returning his attention to the Head Girl.

He took her hand and raised it to his lips, "I am pleased to see you here today, Miss Clearwater."

While his daughter enjoyed the attention, Dan frowned but then caught the amused look on Lady Longbottom's face.

"Good manners are always in good taste," the dowager reminded everyone while Luna giggled and Neville blushed.

Hearing a loud bang, everyone stepped back as the Knight Bus slammed on breaks and stopped just inches from the side of the tavern. Stan Turnpike, the driver, moved the bus up a dozen feet to allow the doors to open and disgorge Harry Potter, his owl and house elf. Harry was immediately hugged by Luna and Neville while Hedwig and Dobby both lay down on the ground.

"Dobby never ever never getting on Buses again! Never!" the elf swore. "Wizards be crazy!"

The elf glanced at the people welcoming his master and looked at the owl who just nodded her head in agreement.

With Hedwig on his shoulder and Dobby in his arms until he recovered his balance, Harry led the group in the walk from Hogsmeade to Hogwarts. When they turned on one particular part of the path, they could suddenly see the ten-foot-tall hedge that surrounded the castle.

"Where did that come from?" Dan asked.

"Hagrid planted it," Neville replied. "It's to protect the castle from 'the danger without'."

"And we must help the new headmaster to remove the danger within this afternoon."

"That sounds like a big challenge, little girl," Auror Stamp said with a condescending tone that made Harry and Neville turn around. Every other student and adult stopped and turned back to stare at the Auror.

"Director Bones didn't say anything about you remaining here after delivering me to Hogwarts," Percy reminded the wizard. "Perhaps you should go home… or wherever it is that Aurors sleep at night."

"You do sleep, don't you Auror?" asked Penny with a similar condescending tone.

The man scowled, "The director understands I'll investigate the situation here at Hogwarts. Everyone at the ministry will demand to know how the groundskeeper got himself named Headmaster… even if it is just for an afternoon."

Luna giggled and said, "Auror Stamp will meet the new guard around Hogwarts for certain."

The group walked up the last part of the path to find the old Hogwarts gates covered by the branches and leaves of the Scottish Thorn. Across the path, roots and tiny leaves of the hedge stuck through the ground as though the hedge waited for the proper moment to close up the wall around the castle.

On the other side of the hedge, a small elf appeared and announced, "If youse brings bad intentions, do not step through the gate to Hoggiewarts!"

Neville, Luna and Harry recognized Gertie and smiled. Laughing with happiness, Harry Potter ran through the gateway to dance around the little elf.

"Gertie, this is Dobby. He's a great house elf," Harry said to introduce the elves and Hedwig took wing and flew around the grounds. Dobby found his footing and bent to touch his head to Gertie's.

Holding out his hand, Percy clasped Penny's and they stepped through together. Behind them came the Lovegoods and the Longbottoms.

With all the invited students, Mr Lovegood and Lady Longbottom inside of the hedge-wall, Auror Stamp took the step through, but the wizard was grabbed by branches of the hedge and thrown ten feet into another section of the hedge where the branches grabbed, slapped and the threw him another ten feet down the path to Hogsmeade. The Auror picked himself up and tried to apparate. Something around the castle prevented the spell from working and seeing more branches reaching for him, Stamp turned and limped back toward Hogsmeade.

"Hippogriff feathers!" Penny cursed. "That's not good."

"I need to send a letter to Director Bones before that Auror makes it back to the Ministry," Percy announced.

Without asking an elf appeared with a table, pen, paper and chair. Once Percy finished the note, and Penny proof read it, the elf popped away to deliver Percy's first report to Director Bones.

Now, Daniel Clearwater, cleared his throat and took the steps to pass through the gates of Hogwarts. The unspeakable wasn't thrown out but did find himself wrapped in his daughter's arms.

The elf who greeted the travellers at the gate, bowed and said, "The clan must come and see the new headmaster."

The elf led the way into the entrance hall of Hogwarts where they found Hagrid seated in a large but plain chair, talking with four persons in new picture frame. He stood up immediately when he saw that there were members of his 'clan' and visitors coming in the hall. Without thinking, Hagrid summoned his staff from the side of the chair.

Dan Clearwater was silent for a moment but then whispered, "Oh my… a warlock… at Hogwarts…"

"What's a warlock?" asked Harry. "That's our friend Hagrid."

Everyone watched Augusta Longbottom step forward and curtsey formally to the new headmaster. She motioned for all the others to either bow or curtsey.

"Headmaster Hagrid, the House of Longbottom offers you our support. Hogwarts has chosen well to select a warlock as the new headmaster."

Now Dan grinned, "A warlock… Dumbledore will have kittens… He had a warlock here for fifty years… Hee hee hee…"

"Daddy?" his daughter asked with some concern to hear her father – the Unspeakable – begin to lose his composure.

"Sorry, Penny," he replied. "I'm fine… It's just that I'm distracted by the presence of the first warlock since Merlin. Dumbledore always said he was he is the most powerful wizard since Merlin but apparently, he's been surpassed now."

Fighting to keep control of his laughter and happiness, Dan Clearwater coughed before announcing, "The Department of Mysteries will support the Warlock Headmaster of Hogwarts ahead of the Minister, the Wizengamot…"

"Isn't Dumbledore a warlock too?" asked Percy. "He's the head of the Wizengamot."

"That's just a title," Augusta explained, waving her hand to dismiss the notion. "I would be called 'Grand Warlock' if elected to the post.

"To be a true warlock, with a warlock's powers, the 'wizard' must create his own staff," the Unspeakable said, motioning toward the staff in Hagrid's hands.

"Ronan gave it to me in the Forest the day I started planting the wall."

"I want to be a warlock! Harry declared. "How do I do that?'

The Unspeakable nodded, "You'll have to find out from the new headmaster when he has time to figure it out."

"Me too," Neville said.

"What about girls?" Penny asked. "Can we be 'warlocks'?"

"The word for a beautiful witch is sorceress," Percy explained. "But if a wizard can do it…"

"Calm down there, Weasley," Dan fussed.

"Just imagine how much more powerful a sorceress will be," Penny declared with a laugh.

Unpleasant Revelations

**(12 July 1993) **

Just an hour later with everyone gathered around the portraits of the Founders outside the Great Hall, Hagrid grinned as he announced, "Sprout and Flitwick are approaching the gate."

The new headmaster glanced at Gertie who nodded and popped away to bring the next members of the clan to the castle. The diminutive charms professor and the herbology professor walked into the entrance hall and stopped short of the portrait.

"Filius, I bet five galleons Minerva drops dead when she sees all this," Pomona said with a half-smile on her face.

"That's a sucker's bet. How about ten galleons that Minerva, Severus, and Dumbledore all drop dead?"

The woman smirked, "Your lips to Merlin's ears!"

Hagrid stepped forward and the two professors bowed or curtseyed as they greeted the new headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft.

"Now that everyone is here, we need to perform the cleansing ritual," he announced.

"Why do we need a cleansing ritual?" Filius asked, prompting Hagrid to tell everyone the story that Fawkes and Ronan told. The reactions varied from vomiting, shouts of horror, and Lady Longbottom fainting though Dan and Xeno caught her before she hit the stone floor.

"He cast what spell?" demanded Pomona. "That's banned by every ministry in the world!"

"The idiot! It doesn't work!" Filius added angrily. His wand hand twitched to have Albus Dumbledore across from him on a duelling field.

Dan nodded as he helped Augusta to a chair, "That book is a trap for idiot wizards to cast spells and suffer grave consequences. None of them work."

"Wizards are stupid to write something like that," Harry said angrily. "And he killed Ginevra Weasley! How can…"

"Harry just rescued her from the basilisk!" Neville reminded everyone.

Luna was silent as she moved around and motioned to the Unspeakable and Headmaster Hagrid to step closer for a conversation with just her father present as her guardian.

"Headmaster Hagrid, you need to know this information, and Unspeakable 23, you must make certain your fellow Unspeakables know that the 'innocent' Dumbledore used was not who he thought she was."

"What do you mean, Miss Lovegood?" Dan asked. "Miss Weasley wasn't even 12 years old yet…"

Luna stared the man in the eye, leaving him transfixed as she told the tale. "That wasn't Ginny in the ritual. Ginevra Weasley died the day that Harry tried to save her in the Chamber of Secrets. Tom Riddle killed her soul and placed his own soul in her body when Harry drove him from the soul jar with the basilisk fang. The soul of the Dark Lord intended to live as 'Ginny' and to become a terrible Dark Lady when she reached her majority."

"How can you prove this claim?" Dan asked as he saw tears in Hagrid's eyes.

"During his wasted lifetime, the Dark Lord made six soul jars," Luna said with disgust in her voice. Hearing Luna's distress, Xeno moved closer to place his arm around his daughter and support her. "During Dumbledore's botched ritual, each sliver of his soul was called forth and consumed; eaten by the magic. Check with Harry; his scar burst open and bled on 7 July as the last soul jar was consumed."

Dan (Unspeakable 23) felt faint to hear of soul jars, the Dark Lord, and a ritual that ate the soul. Hagrid leaned on his staff, continually praying to Mother Magic and the Muggle God for their help.

The new headmaster recovered and said, "I'm sorry about Miss Weasley and I don't think we'll tell this tale to her family…"

Luna waved the man to silence and Hagrid feared what the slender girl was about announce.

"Using the corrupted soul of Tom Riddle – even though it was shredded and angry – made the ritual do something terrible… create something terrible. And I can't see where Dumbledore dumped the carcass."

She leaned in closer to her father before saying, "Wherever it is, when Dumbledore invoked the spell, that carcass released a terrible curse on the people – the world. Muggle and magical people alike will die in terrible waves this summer…"

"No!" shouted the voice of a young man. "Not Ginny's soul!"

Hagrid and Dan looked up, seeing that their audience had grown to include all the adults in the room as well as the two boys.

Tears streamed down Percy's face as Penny held him close and then led him to Hagrid's chair to sit beside him and hold him. Neville and Harry stepped forward to hold Luna as tears streamed down her face, reliving the horror of her visions. Filius stomped around the room, cursing Albus Dumbledore in several different languages.

Augusta Longbottom motioned to an elf and ordered regular muggle brandy for the adults and lukewarm chocolate for the children. With a small glass in her hand, she walked to where she saw Pomona Sprout standing before the portraits of the Founders.

"…bring in a dozen milk cows before Friday," Helga said. "And some chickens and pigs. Do the elves know how to prepare fresh animals?"

"Ladies, what are you planning?" asked Augusta.

Pomona motioned toward the outside of the castle. "Headmaster Hagrid has created an impenetrable wall around Hogwarts that the curse can't break through. We have to prepare to survive for two years or more without support from outside."

Augusta suddenly turned around and summoned Neville from his friends.

"Yes, Grandmother?" asked the boy.

The farms… how many did you surround with this hedge?

The elves have all of our farms and six other magical farms completely surrounded by the hedge-walls.

Augusta leaned over and kissed her growing grandson on the cheek, "As clever as I ever hoped your father would be. Your parents would be very proud of you Neville Longbottom."

Turning to Sprout and the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff, Lady Longbottom announced, "My grandson has protected our farms and others where we can produce plentiful food to feed all of Magical Britain."

"But what about the muggles?" asked Harry. "We can't let them all starve."


	4. Chapter 4 Hagrid Part 4

Hagrid Part 4: Restoring Hogwarts

The Warlock leads his tribe in cleansing the castle. Other persons return to the castle and a few are ejected forcefully. The hedge-wall makes itself known.

**(Late afternoon, 12 July 1993) **

"Enough! There are many problems to face and resolve this summer," declared Hagrid. "But first, we must cleanse Hogwarts and we shall do it now!"

"But…" Pomona tried to object. The children and young Percy were in tears. Filius was angry enough to erupt with violence against anyone who approached him.

"I summoned my clan to cleanse this castle today…" He motioned around him and then out the door.

"We shall move to the courtyard and begin."

Everyone followed Hagrid outside and the humans found that every house elf from the castle stood in a circle.

"The elves represent the wall around Hogwarts. This is our ritual circle and it is unbroken and secure!"

The elves joined hands and the humans found themselves moving into different positions. The new headmaster took his place just off centre of the Hogwarts shield laid out in coloured stones in the centre of the courtyard. To his left stood Percy Weasley and to his right stood Filius Flitwick. Behind him stood Dan Clearwater and Xeno Lovegood, and before him, turned to face him, stood Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom.

Penny stood between her father and Percy while a smiling Luna stood between her father and Professor Flitwick. Lady Longbottom stood between Neville and Flitwick, while Professor Sprout stood between Harry Potter and Percy.

Overhead the school owls gathered to circle round and round.

In the Forbidden Forest, the centaurs turned to face the castle and every unicorn raced toward the hedge that separated the forest from the castle. From their underground burrows, the nifflers climbed out to sit, wait, and watch.

"Mother Magic, we come to you this day for your aid," Hagrid declared in a clear voice that wasn't too soft or too loud. "We come girl and boy, man and woman, warrior, wizard, warlock, teacher, human, giant, goblin, and elf, elder, and young."

"Help us clean this castle! Clean it to once again teach and protect your magic! Hear us!" he commanded and raised his staff to strike the centre of the shield in the courtyard.

There was a thump like a bell with a broken clapper not striking properly.

Now Hagrid smiled at the two boys before him and raised his staff again while both boys raised one foot to stomp on the flagstones.

"Hear us!" the three voices called.

The bell sounded again, but still not full tone.

Lady Longbottom, Pomona, Luna, and Penny found themselves moving around the wizards with their hands waving in time with their feet but without saying a word.

This time when Hagrid lifted his staff, all the wizards joined in the call, "Hear us!"

And they all stomped on the flagstones as the bell was rung, clear but still faint.

"Hear us!" the male voices called followed by the stomp of the staff and their feet.

Now the witches echoed the call, calling out, "Mother hear us!"

But rather than stamping their feet, the dancing witches clapped their hands and continued to move.

"Hear us!" the wizards called again and again.

"Mother, hear us!" continued the witches. And the calls were always followed by stomping and clapping as the sound of the bell grew louder, clearer, and stronger.

Overhead, the owls flew in circles to strengthen the calls, while around the wizards and witches, the house elves began to stomp their feet and clap. In the fields between the hedge and the forest, the unicorns passed through the barrier and formed their own ritual circles to stomp on the ground, echoing the call for aid from Mother Magic.

Suddenly the bell began ringing clearly, loudly and continuously while the doors and windows of Hogwarts opened and black smoke issued forth to be swept up by the flight of the owls before being banished into nothingness. In the courtyard, the witches and wizards dropped to their knees and then lay on the flagstones where they were joined by the elves and then the owls.

The unicorns returned through the hedge wall into the Forbidden Forest. The elves recovered first and they popped out to the kitchens for drinks or chairs for their wizards and witches. A few elves helped move the owls to the wall around the courtyard where the birds rested before taking wing once more to return to the owlery.

In London, there were no instruments left to monitor magical events in Britain. But in Bristol, Sybil Trelawny turned to her sister and said, "Pack our trunks. We're going to Hogwarts in the morning."

"Sybil, what will I do there?"

"You will live," Sybil said and would not allow her sister to argue.

Everyone involved in the ritual ate a hearty supper that evening – they had to rebuild their magical power reserves as they were close to drained at the conclusion of the ritual.

And the elves brought bedding into the Great Hall. Hagrid fell asleep in his chair and Flitwick crawled up on a table to sleep with his head pillowed on a large loaf of bread.

Dan Clearwater remained awake long enough to find the power to send a Patronus to his wife explaining the he and Penny were safe at Hogwarts. Then he fell asleep with his head in his arms at his place at the table.

Morning After

**(13 July 1993) **

"Headmaster Hagrid, wakes up!" demanded Gertie. "Wakes up now!"

Sputtering just a bit, Hagrid woke enough to stand up and stretch out the kinks from sleeping in a chair that didn't offer enough cushions. Looking around, Hagrid noticed that the children were awake and eating breakfast while the other adults were still bleary-eyed and nursing cups of tea or coffee.

'_I must buy tons of coffee today,'_ Flitwick decided. _'Whatever's coming, I will have my morning coffee!'_

Pomona Sprout was similarly thinking about the three tea plants she had in the Southern Greenhouse. _'Can the boys show me how to take cuttings… wonder if the bowtruckles can get them to grow enough to have tea a year from now?'_

"Headmaster, there be's ministers magical at the gate with Aurors!" Gertie reported. She didn't tell him that two of the Aurors had already attempted to enter the gate but both were grabbed and thrown about before being thrown increasing distances from the hedge-wall. The second Auror would spend a week at St. Mungo's having his spine regrown.

"Is Madam Bones here?" Percy asked and everyone heard Gertie reply that 'Madam Bonesie' was not there.

Hagrid nodded, "Percy, if you'd send a quick note to Madam Bones, I think that I will walk down to the gate slowly and see what the minister wants."

"I'll go with you," replied Filius. "I'm itching for a good duel."

Hagrid looked at Dan Clearwater and said, "Sir, I think your presence here should remain secret. If you are recognized, you might have problems getting in and out of the ministry in the days to come."

Considering the new headmaster's words, the Unspeakable nodded in agreement. An elf left with Percy's second message to Madam Bones and everyone prepared for an interesting morning.

"Is there a floo connected to the network this morning?" Dan asked.

Hagrid motioned with his staff toward a nearby room and said, "It's open to take you to your home and nowhere else. And it'll shut off as soon as you're gone."

"Thank you, Headmaster," Dan said before he kissed his daughter's head and departed. He'd go home and update his wife before heading for the ministry. The Department of Mysteries must locate Dumbledore and the basilisk carcass today.

"I'll go greet the minister as well," Augusta said. "I'm on the Board of Governors and if I can bring several of them here to speak with the Founders, they'll be forced to agree with their selection of the new headmaster."

Harry whispered to Neville, "Grownups are stupid. That Auror who got thrown out must have gone back and stirred up trouble."

The party from Hogwarts approached the familiar gate marking the end of the castle grounds but the metal frame was now surrounded by the hedge and through the narrow opening, they could see the rotund figure of the minister, some woman in horrid pink robes, and two Aurors. The woman in pink, motioned toward the approaching 'new headmaster' and encouraged the minister to speak.

"Ruben Hagerty, what is the meaning of this hedge? What magic is this that keeps attacking my Aurors?" demanded the stringent voice of Cornelius Fudge. He was a career politician who'd made much of his involvement in the capture of the Death Eater, Sirius Black. He used that notoriety to climb to the high office of Minister for Magic. However, once in office, Fudge did nothing but collect bribes and support the wealthy purebloods in their attempts to maintain the status quo.

"This hedge protects Hogwarts from many different evils. Any person with bad intentions toward the castle and the students cannot enter," replied Hagrid.

"Then why are my Aurors… they are following my orders!"

"Then your orders must be based on bad intentions," replied Filius, his wand at this side.

"**HOW DARE YOU SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT THE MINISTER, YOU HALF-BREED!"** screeched the woman dressed in pink. Unfortunately for Fudge, his ear was right beside her mouth when she blew that foghorn of a mouth and the man grimaced in real pain.

"Really Cornelius, you should muzzle your toad before taking her out in public," Augusta stated coldly. "Did you bring any of the governors? Anyone else from the Wizengamot?"

"**WE DON'T NEED…"** the woman began yelling again before Fudge signalled an Auror to silence her. Raging to be silenced by someone's spell, the woman shoved Fudge to one side, drew her wand and raced forward.

Disappointed, Flitwick shook his head and didn't raise his wand.

As the witch stepped into the entrance, several branches of the hedge, now resembling ropes, grabbed the woman and threw her toward a part of the hedge that shaped itself into a mouth. Just as she reached the 'mouth', the silencing spell fell and the woman screamed, **"CORNELIUS! SAVE ME!"**

When the mouth shut, all sounds from the woman vanished though the hedge rippled and hiccupped multiple times as the witch was passed from one end of the hedge to the other while inside. Finally, the hedge popped the pink robed witch out from the top and threw her fifty feet down the path toward Hogsmeade. Then the mouth reappeared and a deep voice said, **"Nasty! Nothing but gristle, fat and no magic…"**

Fudge took a step backwards as his guard seemed about to retreat as well. From down the path toward Hogsmeade charged Amelia Bones with more Aurors. Medical teams from the DMLE also appeared to collect the injured witch and the two Aurors thrown about earlier in the morning.

Flitwick glanced up at Hagrid and Augusta, "Maybe I'll get to duel someone today after all."

"Stand down!" shouted Bones once she was close enough to be heard. "Aurors stand down! Any wizard who draws his wand loses the arm!"

The minister's guards were disarmed and when she discovered she could not apparate or portkey them away, Bones ordered two of her Aurors to escort them back to the DMLE and put them into security cells until she had time to deal with them.

"Bones! Arrest these people!" commanded Fudge pointing at Hagrid, Augusta and Filius.

"On what charge you moron?" demanded the irate director.

"What? I can't hear you?" asked the minster, cupping a hand around his single good ear.

Stepping closer and shouting into Fudge's uninjured ear, Amelia repeated her question, **"On what charge, you stupid moron?" **

Clapping the hand over his second injured ear, Fudge shouted back, "They prevented me from entering Hogwarts to establish ministry control until we can appoint a new headmaster."

Stepping close and casting a healing spell on the Minister's ear drums, Bones explained, "Fudge, the ministry does not now or at any time in the past have control over the position of headmaster. If we did, would we have ever left Albus Dumbledore in control of the school since 1950?"

"Well, a half-giant without a wand can't be a wizard and he can't be the headmaster!" declared the minister.

Now Flitwick stepped closer to the gate, pointed at Hagrid and asked, "Director Bones, do you see what magical focus our new headmaster wields?"

Bones stared for a long moment before her eyes grew wide and her mouth dropped open.

"Merlin's balls! A warlock!"

"A what?" asked Fudge, twirling around trying to find what had so shocked Bones. The Aurors escorting the director were silent but disturbed enough to shift their stance and let their wands slide into their hands.

"Stand down!" Bones ordered as she stepped closer to examine the scene before her. Rubeus Hagrid did wield a staff and it appeared to be his magical focus. Augusta Longbottom from the Board of Governors and Filius Flitwick from the faculty stood on either side of the half-giant and he wasn't scared of the DMLE officers on the other side of the hedge-wall.

From closer to the castle, a boy who might be Harry Potter appeared, running toward the gate. When he reached the adults, the boy stopped beside Hagrid whispered a message to the new headmaster. Hagrid grinned and turned toward the gate before he bowed.

In his regular rough speech, Hagrid said, "Madam Bones, the Founders wish to consult with ye from their portrait in the entrance hall of the castle. Therefore, as headmaster, I invite ye to enter Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. Ye'll be protected and allowed to leave the moment ye desire."

Glancing at Fudge, Hagrid added with more formal English, "You may bring the minister as a guest but he must remain silent. He will come to no harm but if he can't control his mouth, the Founders may direct the house elves to punish him severely."

"How severely?" she asked glancing at Fudge.

"No!" Cornelius insisted. "It's a trap."

Her personal guards would not leave her side and Amelia didn't trust the Aurors on duty at the ministry enough not to free Fudge if the man was allowed to yell, threaten, and bribe without proper supervision, so Cornelius Fudge was silenced and made to follow the party as they made their way into the castle.

Harry watched the man leap through the gate of leaves as though that would help him escape the branches. Leaving one Auror on duty at the gate to prevent anyone else with ill intentions from approaching the hedge, Amelia was escorted into the entrance hall of Hogwarts where comfortable sofas and chairs were arranged before the portrait of the four founders.

"Shack, patrol the halls…"

"No," Filius interrupted the director. "Your Aurors will remain here with you. They may not wander about and snoop. We're still setting the castle to rights."

"Really? You're going to try and tell me…"

"Amelia Bones, be silent!" commanded Helga Hufflepuff from the portrait. "Badgers do not start fights they cannot win! Now, shut up and sit down. I will deal with you in a moment!"

Rowena Ravenclaw narrowed her eyes and motioned for the silenced Cornelius Fudge to approach the portraits. Behind her Salazar Slytherin and Godric Gryffindor scrambled to move away from her corner of the picture frame.

"Corny, I've heard interesting tales on you from my friends in portraits in the Ministry last night," the portrait explained in a quiet voice. "I know where all your bribes are hidden, the records of each one, and the name of your real mistress. Can you imagine what dear Delores would do to you if she learned she's not your only mistress?"

The man turned as green as his hat and the portrait continued, "Now, you be a good stooge today, we'll let you live and return to destroy your ministry with inaction. If you don't cooperate, I'll feed you to the hedge-wall monster myself and this time, it'll eat you rather than spit you out like your pink toad."

Neville leaned close to Harry and Luna to whisper, "I kinda like Lady Ravenclaw and Lady Hufflepuff. They'd eat Malfoy, Snape, and Ron for breakfast."

"I want popcorn before that show," Luna replied.

"What's popcorn?" asked Neville while Harry laughed.

With Fudge properly chastised and trying to not draw the attention of anyone – half-giant, house elf, partial goblin, or child in the entrance hall, Bones found herself under the scrutiny of the founder of her house. The portrait smiled after a moment and motioned for Amelia to sit near the new headmaster.

"You've done well as a badger in the morass that is Magical Britain Amelia Bones," Helga said. "My hope is that you can help Headmaster Hagrid save as many people as possible in the coming year."

The director's face hid her true feelings for a moment and she watched the portrait smirk.

"That is a terrible but widely general statement… What are you referring to? Have you got proof?" asked Amelia.

Helga snapped her fingers and Godric Gryffindor fell to the floor of the portrait before he could dump the bucket of water on Rowena's head. Grabbing her copy of Hogwarts, A History, the angry founder of Ravenclaw began beating the founder of Gryffindor about the head and shoulders.

Staring with disbelief, Amelia said nothing for a moment until Helga remarked, "The only reason we keep the two of them around is they're very handy in a fight with wizards or dragons."

"And between the sheets!" Godric shouted as he dodged a blow. Salazar kept trying to keep out of the way but Godric threw items at Rowena that always seemed to hit the founder of Slytherin.

Luna Lovegood's peal of laughter, and Augusta Longbottom's chuckle, cleared the air though Harry and Neville both blushed.

Amelia Makes Plans and Another Professor Returns

"So, one of the Unspeakables is aware of this crime?" asked Amelia. Hagrid nodded while Filius and Augusta remained silent.

"And he went to the ministry earlier this morning," the Director added.

"You're stalling for time to formulate the real questions you want to ask," Helga shouted from her portrait. She was healing Godric's split skull and feeding him bits of biscuits and this new 'tea' drink the elves had conjured into the portrait.

Scowling toward the Founders, Amelia asked, "Where did Dumbledore go? What is the curse he's unleashed?"

"Excellent questions we've already asked and the Unspeakables are working to find the answers," Hagrid replied. "The more important problems are how do we prepare this castle and the rest of Magical Britain for the coming catastrophe?"

Rowena Ravenclaw joined the conversation at that point – Salazar Slytherin was focused on figuring out modern magical potion ingredient equivalents to his ingredients from earlier centuries and unlikely to cause trouble after seeing Godric mangled earlier in the day.

"Director Bones, in your history classes or in your own reading, what do you remember learning about a disease called the Black Death?" asked the Founder of Ravenclaw.

Amelia shook her head and admitted, "There's just the name… an illness… no, a plague, that struck Europe centuries ago."

Rowena turned to Helga and said, "I shall call Binns back from the other side of the veil and make him regret his birth, his death and the poor decision to remain a ghost for two centuries."

Turning back to Amelia, Rowena elaborated, "Just over five hundred years ago, a wizard in the eastern-most province of China cast a spell from a version of this book that Dumble-dammit used. The spell that idiot attempted to cast was for some mad idea or something, just like Dumble-shit. What the spell really did was create the disease the muggles call the Black Death. Riding in the blood stream of fleas and rats, the disease travelled across the world and wiped out almost half of all mankind."

"I thought it was only a quarter?" interject Filius who'd returned from his quarters for the afternoon discussions.

"Parts of China and India were depopulated. Central Asia, the Middle East and Northern Africa were hit much harder than the thinly populated nations and cities of Europe," Rowena explained. "It was European historians who decided it was only a quarter of mankind that was wiped out."

Waiting patiently Amelia was soon rewarded when Rowena continued, "The disease was especially bad among magical people. We ignored the threat and when our people fell ill, the healers responded but then fell ill themselves. Less than one in ten magical persons survived that century in Europe."

"One in ten?"

Gesturing to the extent of Hogwarts, the Founder said, "In the year 1400, we had over two thousand students here at Hogwarts. But in the year 1500, the number was less than 200."

Forced once more to sit down, Amelia asked, "And this curse that Dumbledore has unleashed?"

Hagrid stood up, stamping his staff once on the floor of the entrance hall, before he declared, "We will survive! Hogwarts will not fall!"

"What's the damage, the number of deaths outside you're expecting?" Amelia asked as everyone nodded toward the warlock.

"Everything and everyone," Helga said as Rowena nodded.

Sitting back, Amelia asked, "How long do we have?"

"Just over a month!" announced a new voice from the doorway as Sybil Trelawny stepped foot back into Hogwarts.

"Lovely wall you planted Headmaster Warlock Hagrid," she said as she passed the group. Followed by another witch in plain robes, Sybil sought out Pomona and beckoned her sister closer.

"Professor Sprout, you need to talk with my sister, Clarice. She is a…" Pausing Sybil turned to her sister and asked, "What's the muggle word, dear?"

"I'm a dietitian. I studied muggle science to learn what makes up a heathy diet for children, grownups, and the elderly."

"You'll need her expertise with the kitchens and food stores once we get this place full of wizards, muggles and food."

Sprout grinned and motioned the witch closer to her notes on a nearby table. Lady Longbottom joined them and began to compare ideas.

"Sybil! You never said anything about the end of the world!" shouted Clarice after about twenty minutes.

"You wouldn't have listened to me dear… I had to get you here to Hogwarts," Trelawny replied from beside the portraits of Godric Gryffindor and Helga Hufflepuff who both were in stitches from laughing.

Madam Bones rose and turned toward the door but Sybil intercepted her and said, "You must send Susan and her friends her as soon as possible. Pay attention now! Have them here before 10 August at the latest, and you and the people who believe you must be here by 14 August."

"Why?"

"The minister and his cronies are going to go nuts and start locking people up."

Staring at the Director, Sybil whispered, "While you have the power, shut down Azkaban with that runic cluster you have in the drawer you pretend you've never opened."

Shocked that the seer knew about that 'drawer', Amelia asked, "But what about the prisoners?"

"What prisoners? Fudge will order them all executed to make room for the new prisoners. Pull out the Aurors and destroy Azkaban the day you interview Dumbledore in Switzerland. Blame it on him – every problem for the next century will be laid at his feet."

Feeling sick to her stomach with the day's news, and this final revelation, Amelia turned to flee, sending her Aurors ahead with Fudge, but Sybil had one last piece of advice, "Director Bones, tell the ICW to look in South America. The new plague has already begun there."

Then the seer wandered to the table with spirits and poured herself three fingers of Firewhiskey.

"When she 'sees' too much, she numbs the sight with alcohol," Clarice confided to Pomona and Augusta.

"Right, order every available bottle of…"

"Get the muggle whiskey, brandy and vodka," Clarice said. "You can use it as an antiseptic if you don't drink it and it won't set things on fire."

Poppy Pomphrey

Rumours about the illegal occupation of Hogwarts were equal to stories about a warlock appearing in the Great Hall and assuming control of the castle. Magical Britain was once again the source of gossip in many magical homes, businesses and halls of government across Europe.

Poppy Pomphrey heard the rumours about the takeover at Hogwarts while dealing with family matters in Margot. Using the last month to settle her brother's estate, Poppy walked along the streets where she'd been a girl sixty years before. Magic kept her from aging as rapidly as her squib brother and once again she debated with herself if magic was a blessing or a curse.

The rumour about a new headmaster was one she welcomed as her thoughts turned toward the children under her care, _'Maybe someone new will let me treat the bruises and the scars. A good child mind-healer can help too. And maybe, Minerva can be made to see sense…'_

Pomphrey laughed at the notion of McGonagall changing her beliefs or behaviours. Turning in at the gate to the cottage her sister left her in the will, Poppy hurried inside to pack her trunk and then return to Hogwarts.

Severus Snape

At the gate, an Auror who could freely enter and leave Hogwarts, stood on duty to forewarn each visitor about the requirement of no ill-will before entering. After ten persons had been sent to St. Mungo's, the Director revised the warning to include that all costs for medical treatment were the responsibility of the individual if the 'hedge' played with them and threw them back along the path to Hogsmeade.

"The DMLE and Hogwarts were in no way responsible for any medical bills."

It was a Tuesday and Auror Swenson was lost in thoughts of the stories he heard from the inhabitants of Hogwarts. A warning from Godric Gryffindor's portrait to bring his wife and children here to live for the next two years, weighed heavily on his mind.

"What is this plant?" asked a caustic voice.

Looking up the Auror was embarrassed to be caught off guard by the potions master, Severus Snape. But Swenson recovered quickly, bowed his head and explained, "This is a new protection that Hogwarts has put in place. The new headmaster…"

"The imbecilic, crackpot giant I hear," Snape said dismissively.

"Warlock Hagrid is the new headmaster," confirmed the Auror.

Now Snape laughed, and another voice joined them.

"Severus Snape, what's so funny you're laughing?" asked Poppy Pomphrey as she strolled the last steps before reaching the gate to the castle. "I don't believe that I've ever heard you laugh before today."

"This fool just confirmed the rumours that the groundskeeper thinks he is the new headmaster," Snape replied sharply as he motioned toward the Auror. "And he even said that the half-wit, half-giant is now a 'warlock'. If ever there was a wizard with delusions…"

"Severus, hush!" Poppy admonished the sour man. "We've been away for a month. There's no telling…"

"I don't care if we've been away for a century, Rubeus Hagrid will never be a warlock and never the headmaster of this school!"

Severus snarled at the Auror and spit, "Stand aside! I'm going to begin setting this place to rights!"

Poppy merely rolled her eyes and stepped back from Severus; couldn't he see the magic rolling off the hedge? And it grew stronger with each of his caustic comments. She noticed the Auror simply inclined his head and stepped away from the gate.

Severus Snape stepped forward and before he could cross the gate into Hogwarts, he was snapped up by several branches from the hedge. He screamed and drew his wand but was thrown against the hedge ten feet away before he could fire off a spell. The Auror raised a strong shield around himself and the mediwitch as they watched another branch grab Snape and throw him toward the mouth that had once again formed in the hedge. The potions master was swallowed and his wand was spit out.

Staring at the hedge and then the Auror, Poppy asked, "Does this happen often?"

"Over half of the visitors to the castle are chewed up and spit back out rather than being allowed to enter," Swenson admitted as he gathered Snape's wand and immediately performed the spell to review the last ten spells cast by the wand. More items began to be spit out; potion bottles, portkeys, an extra wand, and three shrunken trunks.

"Is the infirmary full?"

"No, ma'am. They have to hobble back to Hogsmeade or wait for me to summon a medical team from St. Mungo's."

Looking at the hedge as it seemed to be chewing on the captive Severus Snape, Poppy motioned toward the hedge and asked, "Has this new guardian killed anyone yet?"

"No, ma'am. Only injured them and only one was injured severely, some toad woman from the minister's staff. She'll be out of hospital in another week or so."

Watching the bulk that must be Severus Snape once again shoved along the inside of the hedge, Poppy said, "Well, there's always a first time."

Without another care for Snape's future, Poppy stepped inside the gate and made her way to the entrance where she was greeted by the new Head Girl and Head Boy. She was escorted to meet the new headmaster Warlock Rubeus Hagrid and with great delight she was welcomed back to Hogwarts. Making her way to the infirmary, she soon found her good mood dampened by finding almost every free space in her infirmary taken up with boxes and boxes of potions, potion ingredients, and empty, new potion bottles.

Of all people, Filius Flitwick came to explain the situation and tell Poppy the stories. As they worked placing boxes of potions into stasis to last for years, Poppy found she had to stop occasionally and dry her tears away or curse the name of Albus Dumbledore.

"I know several healers we'll want to invite to the castle," Poppy informed the helpful Flitwick. "I can't run a hospital for a castle full of people by myself."

Minerva McGonagall

When she stepped through the floo at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade, two reporters immediately accosted the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts and set off her bad mood. Pulling her wand, Minerva transfigured Rita Skeeter from the Daily Prophet into a chamber pot and a Frenchman from Paris Magic Match into an umbrella stand.

"Here now," objected Rosie. "They're paying customers and you can't be throwing around spells in my establishment!"

"My apologies," Minerva said coldly but she didn't move to reverse the transfiguration before stalking out the front door and beginning the climb to Hogwarts. No one else approached her on her trip but when the castle came into view, she noticed the new hedge and then a strange sight – a man was ejected from the hedge and flew in her direction though he hit the ground and bounced twice before stopping. She stepped closer and barely recognized Severus's face – his hair and eyebrows were missing.

"Blea… muss…" the potions master tried to form words and Minerva glanced toward the castle again, seeing an Auror send off a Patronus message.

While she waited beside Severus, an emergency team from St. Mungo's appeared via a portkey and after stabilizing the mangled wizard, returned to the hospital with him. The team of witch and wizard nodded once at McGonagall but didn't answer any of her questions and when she began to insist, the healer-witch threw up a shield to keep the transfiguration professor at arm's length.

Her mood darkening to be ignored thus, Minerva stomped off toward the castle. She recognized the Auror on duty, Freddie Swenson, a pureblood who graduated in 1980 at the height of the last war with the Dark Lord.

"Professor, I must warn you before you come any closer that anyone attempting to enter…"

"Warn me?"

"Professor, please listen…"

"Get out of my way, Freddie Swenson or I'll turn you into a toad!"

"The hedge will…"

Her wand in her hand now, Minerva waved it at the Auror who closed his mouth, lifted his empty hands in surrender and stepped out of the way. McGonagall took the step over the threshold of the gate and was grabbed by the branches and pulled into the hedge.

"People just don't want to listen," Swenson said as he made additional notations in his papers for his report. He was leaning more and more toward moving his family here tomorrow.

After three minutes, a discombobulated Minerva McGonagall was safely deposited on the inside of the hedge. Auror Swenson congratulated her on being the first person with ill-intent to be permitted to proceed to the castle.

"I'll show you ill-intent!" McGonagall spit before the hedge sent a couple branches toward her again. Seeing the branches threatening her, the deputy headmistress turned to scurrying along the pathway to the entrance of the castle without looking back and seeing a former student laugh.

Inside the doors of Hogwarts, Minerva stopped short – there was a large portrait of two men and two women taking up most of the wall beside one of the doors to the Great Hall. Around the portrait were several men and woman writing with muggle pens on muggle paper.

'_Dumbledore will not approve!'_

She noticed Sprout and Flitwick in conversation over a ledger with some unknown woman who vaguely resembled Sybil Trelawny. A house elf – Crusty if she remembered his name correctly – was arguing with Poppy about storage for potions in someplace called the 'Room of Requirement'.

'_And Dumbledore will not appreciate any member of the staff discussing stocks of potions where anyone could overhear!'_

From beside her came a booming voice, "Professor McGonagall, welcome back to Hogwarts!"

Minerva jumped slightly – how the half-giant had snuck up on her was a mystery. But she recovered quickly and began to ask rapid questions without waiting for any answers, "What is going on Hagrid? Where's the headmaster? And what are all these people doing in the castle in July?"

Filius Flitwick hurried over; he might be half goblin but the wizard moved faster than any other person she'd ever met.

"Minerva, welcome and I see you're already speaking with Headmaster Warlock Hagrid…"

The transfiguration professor's eyes popped out of her head and her mouth hung open so that she didn't notice Filius allow his wand to drop into his hand from his wrist holder.

"What? What did you say?"

Filius smiled as Pomona also joined the Charms professor in front of Minerva. "Yes, Hogwarts selected the Warlock Rubeus Hagrid as the next headmaster."

Motioning toward the portrait hanging on the wall, Sprout added, "And the four Founders approve wholeheartedly."

Frowning, McGonagall said, "Who approved this from the ministry? Who approved this from the Governors? Hagrid's not a warlock – there's not been a warlock since Merlin."

"But I thought Albus was certain he'd be a warlock someday?" Pomona jabbed. "He always declares he is the greatest wizard since Merlin…"

"This is not a time to make fun of the headmaster!" Minerva argued. "I understand he's missing."

She looked around the entrance hall at the individuals with maps, boxes, and crates before her frown deepened if that was possible; perhaps it was just the look of utter disapproval on her face.

"Oh dear, she's going to assign us detention," Filius said with a pout on his face.

"And take points!" Pomona said as another jab.

Her face now thunderous with anger, Minerva shouted, "This is not a playground! Hagrid's been pretending to be headmaster but that ends now."

She turned to the half-giant and shouted with fire in her eyes, "Go back to your shack or I'll dismiss you myself!"

Turning toward the two professors, Minerva began to say something else when she saw the children; Percy Weasley, Penny Clearwater, Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, and Harry Potter.

"You'll all be sacked! What in the name of Merlin are you doing bringing harry Potter to Hogwarts? He has to be with his muggle relatives during the summer?"

Godric Gryffindor looked at Helga and Rowena for permission before he stood up. Both witches nodded with approval so the founder of Gryffindor house stood up and shouted, "Come here girl! Minerva McGonagall, the Founder of your house commands your presence before me!"

"Uh oh," Salazar said from his chair at the back of the portrait. "Someone's in trouble… And it's not me for once!"

"The day is still early Sal," Helga reminded the wizard who fell silent but still grinned.

Her feet were compelled to step toward the portrait and Minerva fought every step of the way.

'_No one speaks to me like a child! No one!'_ she thought angrily as she found herself standing before a portrait of Godric Gryffindor with Helga Hufflepuff standing on his left and Rowena Ravenclaw on his right. She could only stare in shock as Hagrid, with a staff in his hand, was escorted by Filius and Pomona to a chair while everyone stood for the coming meeting. In the back of the portrait, Minerva saw the fourth Founder rise from his chair after a glance from Rowena as the half-giant named Headmaster was seated.

"Now, Minerva McGonagall, I'm certain this is all a great shock to you but…"

"Who are you?"

Godric smiled his most congenial smile and with a short bow said, "I am Godric Gryffindor…"

"Not likely," Minerva interrupted, drawing her wand. "Why haven't you been on this wall for the last sixty years? I came here in 1929 and I've never seen your portrait before this day!"

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Helga's portrait said as she pulled out her wand and cast the disarming spell at McGonagall. To everyone in the entrance hall's surprise, including Godric Gryffindor, the wand made of oak and hippogriff feather flew from Minerva's hand and stuck to the portrait.

"How did you…"

"We're the founders of Hogwarts. This is still our castle and what we want counts for something," Rowena stated with a cold voice. "Now apologise to the Founder of your house so we can begin this conversation."

"I won't apologise to some dandy in a portrait frame!" declare Minerva. "I'm the deputy headmistress of this school and it's obvious to me that you're all insane!"

From a corner of the room, Harry told his friends, "This isn't fun anymore. The adults are really unhappy."

Percy and Penny exchanged glances before she leaned over to Neville, Luna and Harry and said, "Why don't you three go visit Gertie in the kitchens. She's been trying to make ice cream with all the milk and cream from the new cows."

"I love ice cream," Luna announced as she grabbed each boy by one hand and pulled them out of the entrance hall.

Glancing at Percy, Penny asked, "Do you wish to escape too?"

He shook his head, "My childhood is over. We're part of this – whatever it is."

Rowena motioned for Helga to remain silent. "You refuse to apologise? You've lived under Godric's roof for sixty years and you refuse to give him the deference and attention he deserves?"

"Albus Dumbledore is…"

"Not headmaster any longer and will never set foot in this castle again!"

"And he is a wanted criminal in the kidnapping and possible murder of a student from this school," added Helga. "You do yourself no favours by mentioning his name."

"Stop that slander!" Minerva demanded. "I won't hear it!"

"Silence!" Hagrid commanded, stamping his staff against the floor beside his chair. "Ladies, we do not have time for argument and mean-spirited comments. There is too much to do."

Helga and Rowena both blushed and bowed their heads toward the seated half-giant and said, "I apologise headmaster."

Minerva snorted and said, "That won't work! I won't acknowledge…"

"Then you've lost your place as Deputy Headmistress and as Professor for Transfiguration," Hagrid said sadly. "I'd hoped for your acceptance and cooperation but if you're unwilling to freely…"

"You can't fire me!"

Augusta Longbottom entered the castle at just that moment with Madam Pence, the librarian at her side. Lady Longbottom had travelled to the Pence home in southern England to retrieve the librarian to begin pulling relevant information from the books and scrolls from the 1400's on the Black Death and how it appeared in Magical Britain.

"Minerva, you've believed that Dumbledore's farts were perfume for so long, your brain is contaminated!" the formidable woman announced. "The new headmaster has dismissed you! Leave!"

Looking around and finding most of the wizards and witches had their wands out and pointed at her, McGonagall took a deep breath. She held her head up and announced, "Hear my words and remember them. If Dumbledore isn't headmaster and I'm not deputy headmistress, there'll be no Hogwarts Express and no students arriving here on 1 September!"

The Hogwarts bell rang once and Sybil Trelawny stepped forward to declare, "At last your inner eye has awakened Minerva McGonagall! Your first prediction has been made!"

"Balderdash! When Albus Dumbledore returns, you'll all be out on your backsides before he has time to sit…"

"Leave Minerva!" urged Filius. "The castle may throw you to the hedge if you don't."

"My wand! Return my wand!" she demanded.

"An elf will hand it to you once you are on the other side of the hedge-wall," Hagrid announced. "I'll not leave ye with a weapon in ye hand with children in the castle!"

Minerva screamed with anger to be so insulted and found herself sitting on the ground outside the doors of the castle. When she stood up and tried to enter again, the doors remained locked and stinging hexes cast by invisible house elves sent the former transfiguration professor scurrying down the path.

Once she was on the outside of the hedge, an elf appeared and threw her wand at her before instantly popping away.

Auror Swenson stood silent – the professor was obvious furious about something and he remembered her temper from his years as a student. She attempted apparition but the spell failed and he pointed to a red flag on a short stick that he'd placed only minutes before her return from the castle.

"That's the limit of the apparition ward from the castle," Freddie explained. "Once you're beyond it…"

"I know," Minerva stated and stomped off, determined to go to the ministry and report this invasion to Amelia Bones. As she left the grounds, the mouth appeared on the hedge and blew a giant raspberry for the former deputy headmistress of Hogwarts.

Remus Lupin

**(14 July 1993) **

There were few people around when Remus Lupin stepped from the floo in the Three Broomsticks. The werewolf knew that the crowd from lunch would be gone in the middle of the afternoon and the supper crowd would not have arrived yet. He hurried from the tavern, wishing he had time for a pint but deciding to make the planned visit with Dumbledore as quick as possible – the prospect of a year's employment as Professor for DADA at Hogwarts had been too good to pass up.

He walked quickly keeping all his senses attuned to the environment – the woods between Hogsmeade and the Forbidden Forest were quiet and ahead lay Hogwarts – source of the only happy memories in his hard life.

Freezing for a moment when he saw the new hedge around the castle and the Auror on guard, he knew not to completely stop and knew not to turn around and run. He slowed his pace a bit and finally made it to the gate where he stared in disbelief at Auror Alastor Moody.

"Remus Lupin, I believe?" the scarred veteran said to name the newest visitor to Hogwarts.

"Yes, Auror Moody," Remus replied to acknowledge the warrior before him. "I… the hedge is new."

"Yes, and it's very good at protecting the school. I've tried every trick in the book to get through, over, under, or around it. Only thing I accomplished was to put two Aurors in St. Mungo's and bust up two of my favourite peg legs," the Auror admitted.

"Why are you here as a guard?"

"I'm not guarding nothing," Moody told the man. "My boss is pissed at me for making the castle mad with my attempts to break through the wall and told me since I liked the hedge so much, I could act as the gatekeeper for the next month during the boring hours from noon until midnight."

Remus shook his head and said, "So what's the deal with being a gatekeeper?"

"Whatcha mean?"

"Why do they need a gatekeeper?"

Moody frowned as much as his face muscles would allow and explained, "I'm here to tell every visitor that the castle's hedge-wall keeps out everyone with ill-intent. If you attempt to enter and you have ill-will in your heart for the castle or it's inhabitants, the hedge will eat you…"

"Eat?"

Grinning, Moody explained, "It just chews on you for a time and spits you back out. Should have seen what it did to Severus Snape."

His voice betraying his surprise, Remus asked, "Snape was here?"

"Until recently, he 'was' the potions professor and head of Slytherin house. Anyways, when he tried to get back in the other day, the hedge swallowed him up, ripped every hair from his head, messed with his mind some, and threw him toward Hogsmeade so hard he bounced twice."

Remus usually kept control of his emotions but Moody's story was so genuine that the shabby man grinned and then laughed.

"I would've liked to see it," he admitted.

Moody nodded and then added, "And then McGonagall arrived with a nose full of attitude and the hedge pushed her through without chewing – probably too sour – and she stormed into the entrance hall where she had angry words with everyone – Flitwick, Sprout, the Founders, and the new headmaster – before she was fired and sent on her way with an elf casting stingers to keep her moving.

"McGonagall was fired?" Remus stated as a question. Then he asked, "The Founders? Who is the new headmaster?"

"You best go in if you want answers," Moody said. "I just like to tell stories about bouncing death eaters and sour old biddies."

Anxious now to discover the identity of the new headmaster, Remus stepped over the gate only for branches to grab him from one side and pull him in faster than he could shout.

"Well, as if I didn't see that coming," Moody said to no one but himself. His wand still in his hand, he waited to see that the hedge spit out – dead man, ravaging werewolf, bag of fur? It took a little longer than usual, but the mouth of the hedge on the outer side appeared and released a deep belch that smelled fairly foul. But then there was a flash of light from the inner side and Moody stepped through the gate to find a grey-haired wolf sitting on its hind quarters, looking confused.

Coming from the castle, Moody saw the new headmaster, Warlock Hagrid hurrying along the path with the boy, Harry Potter, beside him.

"This is going to be messy," Moody muttered to himself, moving to place himself between the wolf and the approaching pair.

"Who do we have here?" Hagrid asked.

"It's a wolf!" declared the boy. "There's not supposed to be any wolves left in Britain… Hunters killed the last ones over two hundred years ago."

Moody watched the headmaster's staff, the half-giant used it as walking stick but the Auror 'saw' that it glittered with power.

"I believe this is a wizard in his animagus form,"

"Like Professor McGonagall can turn into a cat?" asked Harry.

"Just like the cat for Minerva McGonagall," confirmed the headmaster.

"No, this is a werewolf," Moody replied. "Never seen one turn into a form of a true wolf, but this is Remus Lupin who is known by me to be a werewolf. He shouldn't be any danger today but your hedge-wall grabbed him, belched out something on the outside and then dropped the wolf on this side."

"The hedge did what?" asked Harry.

Hagrid grinned, "I think our wonderful hedge-wall decided that Remus Lupin should be our DADA professor this year and got rid of the werewolf curse and made him into an animagus."

"Does that mean he can turn back into a wizard again?"

"Yes, he can," Hagrid said and then took one step closer to the wolf who attempted to stand but then fell over onto his side.

"He's hurt!" Harry said as he ran forward.

"Stupid Gryffindors!" declared the Slytherin Moody who attempted to move forward but found himself held in place by multiple branches of the hedge-wall.

Hagrid nodded at the Auror and said, "We'll be fine, Moody. Thanks for caring."

"I just don't want to have to write a report about bloody Bow-Who-Lived getting eaten by a werewolf!"

"Dobby!" called Harry from the side of the sleeping wolf.

The little elf popped in, squealed and then popped back out to a safer distance. "Mr Harry Potters comes away from the wolfses!"

"He's fainted Dobby," Harry said shaking his head. "I need water in a bowl and some smelling salts. Go ask Madam Pomphrey…"

The elf looked conflicted at the orders and his fear for his bestest master in the entire world but Hagrid whispered something that assured Dobby and the elf vanished.

Moony/Remus began to swim up from the darkness that was unconsciousness when he heard a child's voice calling, "Mr Lupin, wake up!"

And then he smelled the boy – lost for a dozen years, this was the pup of his alpha! This was the son of James Potter!

Blinking his eyes, the wolf whined and managed to sit up again.

"That's great! Not too fast. You're going to be fine; I know it!" Harry told the wolf as Madam Pomphrey appeared beside an agitated house elf. The elf carried a large bowl of water that he slowly brought to Harry.

"Thanks Dobby," Harry said as he took the bowl and held it up for the wolf. The long tongue of the wolf began to lap up some water and Harry laughed as he was subject to splashes from the bowl.

"Headmaster, why did the elf bring me here?" asked the Mediwitch.

Hagrid motioned toward the wolf and said, "Give us just a minute Poppy."

Giving the wolf his full attention now, Hagrid said, "Remus Lupin, you need to return to your other form now."

The wolf whined and the boy set down the bowl to hug the wolf around the neck.

"Harry needs someone he can trust, Remus. You need to come back and be that grownup for him," Hagrid said as he stamped his staff against the ground.

The wolf took a deep breath and stood up on all four legs before everyone blinked and the tall form of Remus Lupin took the place of the wolf. Reaching down a hand, Lupin said, "Hello Harry. I was friends with your mother and father."

"How is this possible, headmaster?" asked Poppy. "Lupin is a werewolf."

"Cast any spell you want," Hagrid said. "He's just a wizard now with an animagus form."

While the mediwitch did just that, and Alastor Moody stood there speechless, Hagrid walked up to the hedge that formed a wall around the whole of Hogwarts and rubbed his hand down through the leaves and whispered, "Good job!"

When the four people wandered back toward the doors to Hogwarts, the branches holding him back, relaxed and then released Alastor Moody. He turned about a couple times, pinched himself to make certain he wasn't imagining things, and then leaned against the hedge.

"I've got to retire soon," he muttered. "I'm getting too old…"

The hedge-wall shot out several flexible branches to form a comfortable chair for Moody who was tired enough to sit. The bowl of water was retrieved by another branch and sucked inside the wall to reappear as a mug of ale.

"Can you create a water closet for me later?" Moody asked to find the necessary suddenly in place beside the gate.

"I am going to retire… Hedges that are smart…" Moody took a deep drink from the mug.

He waited a moment before he said, "I understand they need a new history professor here."

A branch extended to poke Moody in the side.

"I'm serious. I can teach history."

There were more pokes before Moody admitted, "Okay, so maybe I can teach transfiguration. History is a bore."

The branches shook as if giving up on the argument and withdrew as Moody finished his ale.

"But let me tell you one thing for certain, there's no way I am writing up a report that says a hedge-wall removed the werewolf curse from a wizard. We'd have every werewolf…"

Sirius Black Leaves Azkaban

**(15 July 1993) **

When Cornelius Fudge made a trip to Azkaban to 'review' the condition of various prisoners, he brought along his copy of the Daily Planet. The headlines shouted that Albus Dumbledore was sought for questioning in the death of the daughter of a ministry official. Underneath the inflammatory story that hinted at an improper relationship, was a picture of the girl's family. When Sirius ignored the minister's remarks about the 'bloody betrayer', Fudge threw the paper at Sirius through the small window in the cell and stomped off in a fury.

Nothing was going right for the minister that summer – Dumbledore did something bad and then disappeared but the ministry couldn't take over Hogwarts and Delores was in therapy to rebuild her leg muscles. Unfortunately, she demanded that 'Cornie' help her with exercises every single night. The witch had entirely too much blackmail material on him to deny her every wish.

Staring at the newspaper for several hours, Sirius kept returning to the picture of the Weasley family again and again for some reason. The mother, father, six boys now that the girl was gone. Dumbledore would certainly have a blood feud on his hands if he ever came back to Britain.

Then he realized what brought him back to the photo on the cover page – the youngest boy's pocket – a rat kept sticking out his head. And this was a recognizable rat!

Reading the story one more time, Sirius smiled when he reached the part stating that 'the Weasleys would visit Hogwarts for the next week'. He didn't understand that reason except the DMLE felt they would be safer at Hogwarts than at their home in Devon.

Molly of course refused to spend any time at Hogwarts and the family remained at the Burrow.

That same night, a grim was sighted by several superstitious Aurors working the midnight to noon shift in Azkaban.


	5. Chapter 5 Hagrid Part 5

Hagrid Part 5: Denying the Plague

The British Ministry for Magic deals with a wizard thought long dead while denying that other wizards are rising from the dead to eat people. Even when Minister Fudge hears Dumbledore damn himself with his own words, Cornelius refuses to take steps to save any lives. But he must be seen to be 'doing something'.

Finding Peter Pettigrew

**18 July 1993**

"Come on Bill! I want to see Harry and get something to eat," complained Ron Weasley as he waited impatiently for his eldest brother to catch up with him. Bill stopped along the path from Hogsmeade to talk to Alastor Moody who remained on sentry duty from noon until midnight at Hogwarts.

Motioning with his head toward the thirteen-year-old boy nearing the gateway in the tall hedge, Moody said, "Your brother could do with standing sentry duty a few days. He'd learn some patience."

"Wouldn't work," Bill Weasley replied. "Our mum would show up every couple of hours to bring him tea and biscuits."

Moody snorted but nodded his head; from Auror Stamp's reports, Moody knew the Weasley matriarch had tightened her motherly grip on her three youngest since their sister's death. The two men were almost to the gate when the kid gave up and ran through the gateway, only to be grabbed by branches and thrown into the mouth that appeared.

"Bill…" screamed the boy before he vanished into the hedge.

"Ron!" screamed the eldest Weasley son as he broke into a run and left the surprized Moody behind.

'_So much for my constant vigilance…'_ thought the Auror as he hurried as fast as he could with the peg leg.

Bill Weasley yelled out for his brother to call out, used his wand to cast all forms of detection spell, and began promising to bring fire and destruction on the hedge if his brother was returned, unharmed, immediately.

Moody had a very worried look on his face – until this moment, the hedge hadn't harmed a child but…

Suddenly a doorway appeared in the hedge, and Ron Weasley walked out, a bit wobbly but safe and whole, without any scars, bruises or wounds. There was a pop and a table holding a large plate of biscuits with a tall glass of milk, and a sturdy chair appeared before the boy who quickly sat down and began to eat.

"Bill… the hedge said… it wanted… to check me… Make sure Dumbledore… didn't do… any… thing… to me…" Ron muttered between bites of biscuits and swallows of milk.

Bill was casting diagnostic charms on his brother and the wizard's repertoire impressed the scarred Auror who asked, "How come a curse-breaker knows so much about medicine?"

"Preparation for field work," Bill replied shortly as he slowed his pace of casting. "Looks like you're okay Ronnie."

"Don't call me that! Only Mum calls me that!" sulked the teenager as only teenagers can. Finishing the last biscuit, Ron stood up and brushed off the crumbs.

"Let's go see Harry!" he commanded as the two brothers disappeared further along the path to the castle while Moody checked the hedge.

"A little warning next time, if you please!" he scolded.

The hedge quivered as though giggling at the Auror and peace was restored until the brothers returned from the castle, passed through the gate and then apparated away once they were passed the red flag.

Noticing a chair and table appear again, Moody drew his wand and waited to see what or who walked out of the hedge. He stepped closer, listening for any hint of movement when the branches grabbed and pulled him inside.

**[Moody, relax.]**

'_Relax? You bloody pile of leaves, how can I relax when you're shoving limbs up my…'_ Moody complained to the hedge that held him in some sort of magical embrace.

**[Language!]**

There was darkness for a long minute and then Alastor Moody found himself back outside the hedge, seated in the chair with a tumbler of muggle whiskey – only one finger of the brew.

He grabbed the tumbler and was about to throw it back with one gulp when he realized his left hand had five digits grasping the glass. He looked at his right hand and found it too had five digits.

'_Bloody hell? Am I dead?'_ he wondered.

**[Language!] **protested the voice again.** [Conjure a mirror and see what we have accomplished.]**

His wand hand shook but Alastor managed to complete the spell that conjured a mirror and he looked at his restored face – two eyes, flexible lips, and a full set of teeth.

"What did you do?" he asked after swallowing the whiskey.

**[I have a job for you and I need you at your full capability.]**

"Okay," the Auror replied.

**[What? No yelling? No negotiation?]**

"I can yell later."

**[Stand up.]**

Without thinking Alastor stood up… and began to yell!

"My leg! My bloody leg by Merlin's beard!" he shouted as he began dancing around the grassy area just inside the gate to Hogwarts. "My leg!"

He stopped and seemed to be wiggling his body around as though trying to feel things without using his hands.

"Did you fix…"

**[Yes, everything is back and in working order,]** the hedge replied. **[I advise you to go slow and not let the blood all rush from your head to your… well… south, too fast.] **

"Not bloody likely while I'm on duty!" Moody snorted, thinking about his favourite witch and how he could get in touch with her.

Then he stopped moving about and asked, "Now, what's this job you got for me?"

**[Send for Director Bones. I have an important prisoner for her.]**

"A prisoner? Where?"

**[Well, it's hard to explain the existence of multiple dimensional space to creatures such as yourself who live in only three dimensions.]**

"And you live in how many die-menn-sions?" Moody asked satirically.

**[Twelve.]**

"Ain't putting that in a report!" Moody muttered after a moment. "Bloody Unspeakables would camp out here for ten years."

But as requested, Alastor used his wand to send his Patronus of an English bulldog to Director Bones requesting her presence as soon as possible to view a prisoner caught by the hedge-wall. Then he sent his Patronus a second time to Headmaster Hagrid with the same message.

"What am I going to tell people when they ask what happened?"

**[Tell 'em that the magic at Hogwarts is very powerful. The castle is preparing to fight and survive the coming storm,]** the voice didn't vanish, just hummed in his head for a moment before it continued.

**[Don't mention the boy going through the hedge,]** the voice instructed. **[The two brothers can't say anything… they won't remember after today.]**

'_Am I going to forget?'_

**[You'll wish you could forget before we're through.]**

Headmaster Hagrid arrived with Filius Flitwick and Percy Weasley in tow. All three wizards froze when they got a good look at Moody – hands, face, and leg restored.

"Auror Moody! What happened to you?"

"I hear that all the time," the wizard replied. "This time, I can honestly say that I'm not sure."

"The hedge?" asked Hagrid and the Auror nodded before the headmaster once again stepped up to touch and praise the leafy wall that surrounded the castle.

When Bones and her protection detail arrived out beyond the posted red flag, Filius whispered to Moody, "Are you ever going to tell anyone that the line for apparition is actually twenty feet closer?"

"Naw. Freddie set it up and I had to give him credit for the idea. He knows and I know that we can apparate in or out twenty feet closer but we're not telling anyone at the DMLE. We might need the advantage."

"But couldn't they figure it out themselves?"

"Sure," Moody replied. "Lazy bastards are too trusting."

Amelia and her guards were struck dumb when they saw Alastor Moody whole in body for the first time in fifteen years.

"Merlin!" Amelia swore several times though none of the Aurors said a word. Several did cast detection spells to reveal glamours, look for sign of potions, and for other magic.

After five minutes, Moody said, "Enough. I'll go to medical at the office for a full exam later but I think everything is back in place."

"How?" asked Auror Stamp.

"Magic!" shouted Filius Flitwick joyously. "It's magic!"

"Director Bones, Hogwarts asked me to prompt your visit," Moody explained. "There's some prisoner the castle wanted you to collect."

At that prompt from Moody, the hedge opened its 'mouth' and leafy limbs carried out came a large cage that only contained a rat. The cage was large enough for a man to stand, but inside it was a single rat and while the creature ran around, apparently it was not allowed to slip through the wires. The cage had no door or other opening so the creature was never coming out of it.

"I don't understand," Bones said glancing at Hagrid and Moody.

"Don't look at me," Moody complained. "I'm just the messenger boy."

Then a bright light issued from the hedge, struck the cage and when it dissipated, the rat was revealed to have been man in disguise. Furthermore, the sleeves were removed from the man's his robes, revealing the Dark Lord's brand on his left arm, clearly visible for everyone to see. Two wands, a large bag of galleons, and objects spelled to be portkeys were floated out a well. Bones collected them all and put them away in an evidence bag, a nifty idea taken from the muggles.

"Animagus!" Bones and Moody both shouted at the same moment.

When they looked closer, Bones remained silent but Moody cursed, "Death Eater!"

The man who been in his rat form for too long, began blubbering about being afraid and being forced to do things. He continually rubbed his face with his hands as though to clean away his past.

With a wave of his wand, Moody cast a silencing spell on the cage and saved them all from hearing the man's excuses.

"That's Peter Pettigrew!" Hagrid exclaimed. He leaned one hand against the hedge to catch himself and seemed to 'hear' the hedge's voice.

After a moment he nodded to the Director of the DMLE and said, "Director Bones, Hogwarts delivers to you, one Peter Pettigrew, a previously unknown Death Eater."

"I ask that you summon the Wizengamot to question him in his role in the deaths of James and Lily Potter, the deaths of a dozen innocent muggles, and the illegal incarceration of Sirius Black, twelve years ago."

"Thirteen years ago," Moody corrected the headmaster.

"Very well, Headmaster… Moody come with," Bones began giving orders. She turned to Auror Stamp and looked him up and down.

"Stamp, you're on sentry duty until midnight. Don't get eaten by the hedge!" she ordered and even though the man did turn pale, he nodded once to accept the orders.

Levitating the cage back beyond the red flag, Moody, Bones and the rest of her guard vanished in a mixture of apparition and portkey.

Hagrid motioned the sentry to come through the gate onto the Hogwarts grounds.

"Auror Stamp, I heard that the hedge wall took exception to your intentions on your first trip to visit."

"It did headmaster," the Auror admitted.

"I hope you've come to understand that Hogwarts means no ill-will itself toward anyone seeking knowledge or shelter from…" Hagrid motioned with one large hand toward the world outside the hedge-wall. "I wanted to issue an invitation to you and your family to come here in August. We're going to gather together to protect the children and the future from what's coming."

Speechless for a moment, the Auror gathered his courage and replied, "Thank you, Headmaster. Thank you."

Peter's Trial and Fudge's Thoughts

**18 July 1993 **

The Wizengamot, the legislative and judicial branches of Magical Britain's government, was made up of the heads of the old 'houses' that founded the country alongside the muggle lords in centuries before. In the middle 1600s, after the witch hunts, trials, and burnings of Oliver Cromwell's 'protectorate' government, the wizarding nobles supported the restoration of the monarchy with King Charles II. The magical nobles then promptly paid the king a large sum of gold to be allowed to form a separate government while swearing they would remain loyal subjects of the crown.

Just over three centuries later, the Wizengamot members paid lip service to the Crown but failed to realize the power the Queen held over them if she was forced to act.

Today, many members were disgruntled because they'd been summoned with only one hour's notice by Amelia Bones for a trial. Tradition held that trials were only held on Tuesdays and Thursdays to not interfere with dinners, parties, dances, and assignations. As today was a Sunday, they muttered and grimaced more than usual; several apparently were nursing hangovers not cured by potions.

With a very different outlook this afternoon, Cornelius Fudge was enjoying the absence of his undersecretary – her convalescent could take the whole of the summer and he'd be happy. It was important that the Minister for Magic be happy!

'_Wait a moment,' _he thought._ 'I'll pay Healer Stone to recommend that Delores spend at least two years in a warm climate… I can send her to the Caribbean and some witch doctor will turn her into potion ingredients.'_

His disposition much sunnier than when he received the summons to court, Fudge made a point to shake hands and greet many members he usually ignored.

Griselda Marchmain, representing her eldest son today, sat quietly and evaluated the members of the Wizengamot present and absent. Dumbledore was still missing – perhaps they could replace him and keep him out of the chamber for most meetings. Augusta Longbottom hinted that she had a fiscal scandal to unleash on Whiskers. Umbridge was still absent – Fudge best be careful with that poisonous toad around his office. Griselda had read in one of Scamander's books about a toad that wizards and muggles would lick the amphibian's skin and experience hallucinations. Griselda's imagination quickly placed Fudge's lips along Umbridge's ample flank and realized she'd make herself nauseous with such thoughts.

The image of the 'licking' was quickly banished by her brain but she kept glancing back at the Minister and picturing him awakening the 'morning after' when he remembered the previous night's activities. Being an old, old woman, Marchmain demanded her strict moral code allow her a few past times.

Finally, Madam Bones began the proceedings as an Auror levitated a metal cage inside the courtroom.

The shouts from the members were primarily focused on the Auror and not the prisoner – this was Alastor Moody in his prime – the leg and eye restored! What miracle of magic was this?

When order was restored and Bones introduced the prisoner – the long-presumed dead Peter Pettigrew – there were even more yells and demands that continued for ten minutes!

Finally, Moody fired off a pair of spells that resembled muggle cannon fire in their sound to subdue the membership.

"Bones! What is this mockery?" demanded Fudge. "This man is dead!"

Amelia raised her eyebrows and Cornelius sputtered, "Everyone knows he's dead!"

"Minister Fudge, I must report that this animagus has been hiding among us for the past thirteen years – apparently as a rat. Earlier today, he attempted to enter Hogwarts and the wards there captured him and forced him back into his human form," the director of the DMLE reported. "For us who are not familiar with the animagus transformation, a forced return is similar to the Cruciatus curse."

"Why is the prisoner in this cage?" asked Lucius Malfoy, nervous that a man he knew to be a Death Eater was in DMLE custody.

"Hogwarts delivered him to my custody in this manner," Amelia explained. She stared at the cage intently and admitted, "None of my staff and none of the Unspeakables can open or break into the cage. Pettigrew is trapped inside this cage until it wears out."

"No! No!" screamed the rat man. "You don't know what's like… Everyone always hurt me! Ten years as a rat and now this!"

"What is the charge against Pettigrew?" asked Maurice Ogden, interested enough in the proceedings to sit forward in his chair and participate.

"Peter Pettigrew is charged with delivery of the secret location of the Potter family to the Dark Lord known as Voldemort."

Again, members shouted for a time but Bones paid attention to the ones who did not; who sat and stared at Pettigrew or herself. Malfoy, Nott, Rowley, Parkinson, and Avery never took their eyes off the cage or herself.

Once Moody again restored order, Amelia continued, "Additionally, Pettigrew is charged with murdering a dozen muggles, faking his own death, and framing Sirius Black for the murders."

"No!" shouted Fudge and he sat back when he realized that more members stared at him than had stared at Pettigrew during his piteous outburst earlier – Cornelius reminded everyone at least once a week that 'he' had captured the dangerous Death Eater named Sirius Black.

"Minister, control yourself!" demanded Augusta Longbottom from her family's seat. "This is a court today, not a bar where you brawl and attempt to impress… well whoever it is that you want to impress…"

While the trial proceeded and Director Bones forced the prisoner to take three drops of veritaserum, Minister Fudge was desperately reviewing options – he knew he had to be seen 'doing something'! The wizard finally paid attention to the proceedings again after Pettigrew confessed to the charges and Bones produced the prisoner's wand and a second, dark well-used wand that proved to be the one used by the Dark Lord.

The suspected Death Eaters fled the chamber at that point, using excuses of headaches, irritated digestive systems, and forgotten assignations with wives. Even though Lucius Malfoy was pale and shaky, he made his way from the room after a significant look at Fudge.

As Bones counted all the votes for conviction, the minister sighed, knowing what the look for Malfoy meant; _protect me or I'll reveal your secrets_. Cornelius loved the gold Lucius continually handed over but such 'gifts' came with steep prices. He missed the pronouncement of 'guilty' but returned his attention to the discussion of punishment.

"What sentence do you propose, Madam Bones?" asked Longbottom.

Seizing the moment, Cornelius interrupted and shouted, "The kiss! This traitor deserves nothing less than a Dementor's kiss!"

"No!" screamed Pettigrew. "I'll tell you anything you want to know… who were the secret Death Eaters… where the Dark Lord hid his gold… the real prediction Dumbledore hid!"

"The kiss seems appropriate," Ogden agreed as Cornelius sent for a Dementor. A pale faced Auror quickly returned with the creature under the control of a charm; the spindly claws twitched as though the Dementor ached to wrap someone in an unbreakable embrace while kissing their soul away.

"No!" screamed Pettigrew. "For the love of Merlin, don't feed me to that thing!"

Director Bones frowned; she hated Dementors and the kiss was a disgusting, long and painful form of death. But the members of the Wizengamot agreed with this form of execution today. The Auror directed the Dementor toward the cage and it floated over but the prisoner remained safely out of reach inside the metal bars that previous trapped him.

The Dementor rolled the cage over, tried to break through the bars, and raged to be denied the promised soul. It raised its head from the cage where Peter Pettigrew laughed hysterically, locked on a member of the Minister's staff, an undersecretary in the department for monitoring the use of magic by muggleborns. Without warning the Dementor leapt across the tables to carry the screaming wizard to the floor and kiss him.

Multiple Patronus charms attacked the Dementor – Moody's bulldog was particularly vicious and ripped out the Dementor's spine but the wizard died, as did the Dementor.

Throughout the death of the wizard and dismemberment of the Dementor, Bones kept ordering more Aurors into the chamber as the general membership fled. Those members who could produce Patronus defenders joined in the attack on the Dementor.

Augusta Longbottom sat back as her vulture Patronus faded away. The bird was ugly but it had been faithful and powerful for more than fifty years; she decided to have her elf retrieve the infamous vulture hat out of the closet and wear it tomorrow.

Moments earlier, Peter Pettigrew blessed the magic that locked him inside this cage and protected him from the Dementor. Now he cursed that magic; with the turmoil in the chamber a rat could have scurried away unnoticed.

"I think the veil will do," Bones told Moody when order was restored. Aurors banished the remains of the Dementor and others elevated the wizard's corpse from the chamber. The wizard's family would be notified and they could make the decisions for burial.

Staring at the overturned cage with the rat-man still squatting in a corner, Moody asked, "Think the whole thing will fit?"

"Yes, the veil is flexible," the Director replied. Shortly thereafter, Moody levitated the cage and Amelia followed him out of the chamber while Pettigrew again cried and begged for his life.

In the Department of Mysteries, Moody directed the cage through the veil and then Amelia broke and threw the pieces of Pettigrew's wand after him. Taking one look at the wand that the Dark Lord had used to destroy so many lives, she broke it and then threw it through the veil as well.

Once the Wizengamot chamber was silent and still, Cornelius Fudge climbed out from under the wide table where he'd hidden when the Dementor attacked and killed the innocent undersecretary, and as the Patronus charms ripped the Dementor to shreds. The minister adopted a peculiar gait in his stride as he hurried to the nearest floo to return to his home; Cornelius was in need of clean robes.

"What do you mean Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban?" demanded the minister later that same day when Amelia finally cornered him in his office.

At first, he hesitated to sign the DMLE orders freeing Sirius Black of any charge and cancelling the kiss-on-sight order. But Amelia quoted enough laws to overwhelm the minister's brain, and there was no one else available to argue against the orders, so Cornelius signed the papers without reading them. Thankfully Delores was absent – the events at the end of the trial sent her scurrying home as well.

"I mean exactly that. The warden failed to report the escape because they really don't know when he escaped. They didn't check his cell since your visit, so you're the prime suspect…"

"Suspect! I'm the Minister for Magic! I can't be a suspect!"

"What did you tell him? What did he say to you?" she demanded to know.

"I… we said nothing to each other! I threw my copy of the Daily Prophet at him and left him in his cell to rot."

Nodding to Auror Swenson, the Auror left to retrieve a copy of the appropriate Daily Prophet. Once Cornelius confirmed the copy of the paper, with the picture of the mourning Weasley family on the cover, Amelia informed him that he was not to leave the country without notifying her office.

With a whine in his voice, Cornelius said, "You know perfectly well that we have to attend the ICW council of mudpuppies day after tomorrow…"

Pinching her hand to keep from laughing when the minister called the powerful council of wizard and witches 'mudpuppies', Amelia growled, "Nonetheless, I must treat you like any other suspect in a crime, Mr Fudge!"

Turning around and heading for the door, Amelia smiled to herself. If her questions made Fudge uncomfortable, she'd enjoy the moment. Besides, she hadn't mentioned how he hid under the table or how that terrible smell filled the chamber afterwards.

She'd make certain the Daily Prophet published the news of Black's innocent, along with the photos of the Dementor being torn apart by the different Patronus creatures. And a photo of the cage with Pettigrew being sucked into the veil would complete page 2.

In his office, Cornelius Fudge began thinking. Independent thinking without gold slipping into his pocket telling him what to think or say, and ideas began appearing -what could the Minister be seen 'doing' that would bolster his standing with the people.

'_Nothing with that bloody plague the Unspeakables keep muttering about…'_ he shuddered remembering the draconian plan Bones mentioned – shutting down all travel and forcing everyone to stay at home for a full month until the muggles had the matter under control.

She seemed to think that lawlessness would be wide spread in the magical communities when the disease reached Britain.

'_Where would we lock up a bunch of new prisoners? Azkaban is full and I'm not giving up my office to be a jail cell!'_ he decided. _'What to do?'_

Supreme Mugwump No More

**(20 July 1993) **

A large group of Aurors gathered at the spot in the Ministry of Magic designated as the 'International Apparition Point' the following Tuesday morning. They had been selected by Director Bones and Minister Fudge to accompany them to the ICW meeting in Bern, Switzerland this morning.

The Aurors included Kingsley Shacklebolt, Terrence Stamp, Freddie Swenson, John Dawlish, Rufus Scrimgeour, and Gawain Robards. They were dressed in their finest red robes and their wands were polished and ready to defend the Director and Minister.

Four additional Aurors would remain here as backup to rush to Bern if needed. This group included Hephaestus Gore, Michael Proudfoot, Ben Savage, and Alison Williamson. While they waited, Auror Alastor Moody entered the room and they all came to attention. He proceeded to inspect their uniforms, and 'strongly' suggested some of them start polishing their boots with something called boot black and elbow grease rather than using spells. When Moody stopped in front of Dawlish, the minister's cousin's nephew, he looked the man over and then announced, "The glamour's not going to hide your gut much longer. Get back on an exercise program or I'll take over your conditioning review myself!"

"But… you don't have that eye anymore! How did you see?"

Moody sniffed dismissively, "Boy, you've been an Auror for five years. Do you mean to tell me you can't 'see' something as simple as a weight glamour?"

"No sir… Yes sir… I mean…"

"Shut it!" Moody growled as the door opened for Amelia Bones, Director of the DMLE, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, and an Unspeakable to enter the chamber.

"Moody? What are you doing here?" Bones asked.

He grinned at the Director and explained, "I just wanted to check their kits before they bamboozle off to Bern. Can't have our DMLE representatives showing up with scuffed boots or stained uniforms."

"Are you going to accompany us to Bern?" Fudge asked the famous Auror.

"Not unless you'll let me vivisect Dumbledore the moment, I see him," Moody growled.

"Not today, Moody," Amelia said. "Head on back to Hogwarts."

The Auror nodded at her order and hurried from the room; Headmaster Hagrid promised to come speak to him about the openings for professor of history and transfiguration today.

Now Bones turned to Fudge and reminded him, "We're not taking custody of Dumbledore today. We're just going to hear the charges and see the evidence today."

"Why are they not giving him a trial today?" asked Fudge.

Amelia paused, wishing she'd sat with Fudge yesterday and made him read the list of charges and conditions sent by the ICW to prepare the British government officials for today's meeting. But she'd just handed him the papers and returned to collect them later; apparently Delores Umbridge was good for something because she read everything that landed on the minister's desk.

"Today, we will… the British Ministry of Magic will break all ties with Albus Many-Names Dumbledore and we will relinquish all rights to try him in our courts," Amelia explained to the minister. Before Fudge could ask any questions, she ploughed ahead reminding the wizard, "Don't you remember signing your name on the acknowledgement of the request yesterday?"

Blinking his eyes to delay a response, Cornelius and every person in the room knew the minister had no knowledge of reading this ICW request yesterday; that the wizard had signed the paper, they had no doubt.

"Well… yes. Let's be off, shall we?" Fudge said.

To approach the offices of the ICW in Bern Switzerland, visitors had to first apparate or portkey into Geneva Switzerland. Met there by an officious bureaucrat, the British delegation was informed that they would use a floo connection to travel to the single room in the ICW building for entrance and exit of all visitors and employees.

"There are extensive carvings of runes around the rest of building that prevent all apparitions and all portkeys from working,' the witch informed them in a Russian accent.

Freddie Swenson immediately felt this was a mistake on the part of the ICW – if there were problems in their offices, no one could escape. He caught Kingsley's eye and the two Aurors would verify the location of this room and the distance to this room from their meeting location at the ICW.

Led into a plain room with a table and chairs across the front of the room, there were enough chairs for the delegation and ICW Unspeakables, Aurors and bureaucrats. To one side of the table for the ICW mugwumps, sat a simple chair in the middle of a circle of runes etched in the floor. The runes on the floor looked freshly carved or renewed but she also wondered what runes were carved on the bottom of the wooden chair.

No one came to speak to them though the Unspeakable did drift over the other side of the room when the ICW representatives, including their Unspeakables, began taking seats.

Nervously playing first with his hat and then his wand, Amelia saved all her comments about proper behaviour for her niece's children in the future. Any instruction would be wasted air if spoken to Fudge.

When the seven Mugwumps, four wizards and three witches, entered the room, everyone rose to their feet and remained silent.

Once the seven were seated, an ICW Unspeakable stepped to the end of the table and gestured across the room.

"The prisoner will not know you are present. Do nothing to attract his attention or let him know you are here; even if he appears to speak to you, he cannot see or hear you. The council will question him extensively to make him reveal information."

No one said anything and Amelia noticed that the other Unspeakables – including the one who accompanied them from Britain – had vanished.

'_So more than one person is under this spell,_' she thought. Her wand was secured in her wrist holder and she made certain that Cornelius Fudge's wand was secured in a sealed pocket in his robes. If Dumbledore attempted a wandless expelliarmus spell, he'd be slammed back by the corpulent form of the minister colliding with him.

"Summon the prisoner for examination," one mugwump directed the Unspeakable. Shivers ran down the spine of every person in the room familiar with history – those were the words often used by judges at trials for witchcraft.

The Unspeakable raised one hand and with silent enchantment, Albus Dumbledore appeared in the room, falling to his knees and only pushing himself up on his hands after a long minute when no one came to his aid.

"Am I to be tortured today or questioned?" he asked the council members before attempting to reach for the chair to pull himself up. Apparently, the chair had been protected and before Dumbledore could touch it to try to determine the magics involved in its construction, he was thrown back and had the tips of his fingers burned.

"The prisoner will remain silent until asked a question," the Unspeakable stated.

"That's not normal procedure in this chamber," Dumbledore replied and winced when a stinging hex hit his left hand.

Amelia noted everything; Dumbledore and his robes were clean though the robes were well worn as though he'd worn them for several active days without changing or cleaning them before he was taken into custody. His beard and hair had not been trimmed though he was missing the rings in his beard and the braids in his hair. His hat was missing as well and the charms that made the stars on his robes dance had been removed.

Amelia mused, _'Bumblebee is certainly 'down' but he isn't 'out' of the arguments that are to come today.'_

"Mr Dumbledore, we know what you did. You created a powerful portkey at Hogwarts Castle on 7 July and moved a very large object out the castle."

"Mugwump Castelmere, are we to forget common curtesy today and do away with proper titles?"

"You have no titles, Mr Dumbledore."

"I am Albus…."

"Stop! You will NOT dissemble, deflect, or deny truths in this chamber!" the wizard, Mugwump Castelmere, declared. "We all know your name, your old titles and your claims of achievement. That is in the past."

"But our past is the father of our present…"

"Move him to the chair," Castelmere instructed the Unspeakable.

"No…" Dumbledore objected but the Unspeakable already had levitated the old wizard who flailed about with his arms and legs, shouting out threats and revealing secrets of the council members.

The moment his bottom touched the simple chair, Dumbledore froze in place, his arms falling slack at his side and his head leaning back against the back of the chair.

"We understand that your name to be Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore… is this correct?" the Unspeakable asked.

"Yes," came the reply.

"What was the object you removed from Hogwarts on 7 July via a powerful portkey?"

"I removed myself and a lemon drop."

"What else?"

The wizard struggled against the chair even now but he said, "A basilisk."

"How large was this basilisk?"

For the next twenty minutes, the Mugwumps continually refined their questions to get information from Dumbledore despite the charms on the chair.

"Tell us why you picked Peru as the destination of your portkey."

"I didn't pick Peru."

"Where did you expect to land?"

"The Hebrides Islands… an island in the Hebrides chain just west of Scotland."

"Why would you go to these Hebrides Islands?"

"The chain has many uninhabited and deserted islands."

"Why did you want to go to a deserted island?"

The questioning continued for another twenty minutes to finally reveal that Dumbledore meant to invoke the magic of the ritual on a deserted island to allow him to contain any 'unexpected consequences' from the ritual.

"What made you suspicious of your ritual?"

"The innocent wasn't innocent, and that corrupted the spell."

"Who was your innocent sacrifice?"

"It was the shell of Ginevra Weasley, a student in my school in Scotland."

"What do you mean by 'shell'?"

Amelia recognized that the compulsion and truth runes on the bottom of the chair were having an accumulative effect on Dumbledore. The compelled him to tell the truth but now he was elaborating on the truth.

Again, Dumbledore fought the answer but eventually admitted that the girl he thought was Ginevra Weasley housed the soul of Thomas Riddle, the wizard also known as the Dark Lord Voldemort.

Luckily for the British delegation, Auror Stamp was seated directly behind Minister Fudge. When the man fainted at this news, Stamp was able to catch him and lower him to the floor. An Unspeakable appeared and then disappeared once again with the unconscious minister.

"And the ritual you used was to steal magic from what creatures?"

"I didn't steal magic. I just wanted to give magic to the muggles."

"Why did you want to give our magic to the muggles?"

"No, everyone would have magic and we'd all live together in peace."

After more questions, the former headmaster finally revealed the true problem with soul of the dark Lord being consumed by the ritual.

One Mugwump summed up Dumbledore's testimony by saying, "So this Tom Riddle split his soul into six pieces and you had to continue the ritual for six cycles while each individual piece of the Dark Lord's soul was consumed?"

"Yes."

Several of the Unspeakables appeared with specific questions they demanded be answered immediately. They took over questioning the prisoner and they drew details from the wizard on the progress of the ritual, the arrival of each part of the soul, the increase in the eyes watching the ritual from the shadows…

After another thirty minutes of questions, the others vanished again, and one Unspeakable remained in the room. He moved to the end of the table and addressed the Mugwumps.

"In his attempt to change the world of magic, Albus Dumbledore doomed us all – muggle and magical alike. Very likely, this is the end of the world."

The Mugwumps sighed and released Dumbledore from the chair. His body slid to the floor again and for a long minute no one said anything. Then a single voice asked, "Now, can we begin to clear up this misunderstanding?"

Everyone looked around the room and finally realized that it was Dumbledore asking the question. Apparently, he didn't remember any of the questions or his answers.

"Show him the footage from the Magic Congress in Lima," Mugwump Gonzales ordered with his voice dead and dull.

On a wall across from Dumbledore, images and sounds of creatures wizards knew as infirni fell on struggling wizards and witches and ate them while they were still alive.

"This is your legacy Albus Dumbledore. Across the world, I'll make certain everyone calls these creatures 'Dumbledores'. You killed my family, my nation and now I hear you've killed my world."

"Lock him up," another council member ordered. "If we survive this catastrophe, we can dismember him in January."

The Unspeakables reappeared and once again protesting, Albus Dumbledore vanished. The council members rose and hurried from the room as the other ICW staff seemed stunned but finally moving out of the room.

"Where's Fudge?" Amelia asked their Unspeakable when he reappeared.

"In the floo room propped up on a chair. I suggest we leave…"

Amelia was already on the move and the Aurors ran to get ahead of her while the last one, Freddie Swenson, pushed the Unspeakable to get him moving.

"Leave as fast as possible," he muttered to the Unspeakable but neither wizard said another word until they were back in London. In Geneva, no one paid any attention to them and Fudge wanted to sit and have a drink of something before Bones hexed his bottom. When Cornelius turned on the woman, she held up her wand and he immediately backed down.

Only once they were in London, did Amelia allow the minister to have a drink and then the man began to ask questions.

"Why did we leave Dumbledore there?" Fudge asked. "What did they say, anyway?"

Sirius At Hogwarts

**(20 July 1993) **

On the same day that the delegation from the British Ministry visited to Bern, the hedge-wall surrounding Hogwarts caught a Grim as the 'dog' sniffed around the edge of the hedge, seeking a hole to slip through.

**[Hello there. What do we have…] **The hedge paused when it realized this was another animagus.** [Who do we have here?]**

The Grim struggled against the branches that held it tight without success.

**[Stop struggling. Change back yourself or I'll force you to change and you won't like it! Pettigrew forced me to change him.]**

The Grim became still and then morphed back into the form of a skinny, filthy Sirius Black.

"You've already caught Pettigrew? Where is he?"

**[Well, Sirius Black. I am glad to meet you. Your betrayer has been tried and convicted of the murders of the muggles, framing you for murder, and for leading the Dark Lord to James and Lily's home where he killed them.]**

The relief in the captive was obvious to the hedge who continued,** [I believe Alastor Moody threw him through the veil the same day as the trial.]**

"And Harry? Where's Harry?"

**[He is safe here with Warlock Hagrid.]**

Sirius snorted, "I heard the news and hoped it was real. Hagrid's always been a great friend. How did Dumbledore take the news?"

**[No clue,]** the hedge replied. **[He's been missing since 7 July and won't be welcomed inside if he returned.]**

"Good. Bastard left me in Azkaban for twelve years!"

**[Now, what am I to do with you?]**

Sirius sighed and relaxed before he said, "Do whatever you want with me. If Harry's safe and Pettigrew is dead, I can die too."

**[Die? Oh no, there's going to be entirely too much dying later this summer. You need to live! You must want to live! You have to lead the wizard and witches…]**

"What are you talking about?"

**[Well, you see, it all began last fall with a prophecy…]**

Sirius cried, threw up, fainted, and cried some more as the hedge informed the animagus about the approaching apocalypse. Finally, the wizard finished yelling, screaming and crying for the present.

He gathered his thoughts as the hedge finished healing him, then took a deep breath and announced, "Okay, get me out of here. I must apparate to Gringotts, get hold of my money, and spend it really quick."

**[That's what you want to do? Spend money?]**

"Yep. With my money, we can buy huge amounts of food, clothes, potions, and put everything in storage at Hogwarts. Gold won't be any good after those things start showing up so let's put it to use."

"We can buy lots of muggle weapons too in case we need to fight the zombie-turds without magic. And we need seeds, animals… Are there any farms in your little protected hedges?"

**[Let's get you healed and out of here,]** the hedge said. **[I finally met a wizard I can't compete with! And you need to meet Harry.]**

With tears still in his eyes and an arm around his friend who just appeared from nowhere, Remus called out to Harry as the boy headed toward the Great Hall from his last class, "Harry! Come here. There's someone you need to meet."

Ministry Deny! Deny! Deny!

**(21 July 1993)**

After a day of reflection on the things that he did not remember and therefore must not have happened or been said in Bern, Cornelius Fudge met with Delores Umbridge, and two Aurors he trusted, John Dawlish and Rufus Scrimgeour. The four of them wrote a new version of Amelia's report and designated it as the official version.

The ministry's official position was reported in the Daily Prophet as follows:

**The ICW interviewed the minister and trusted Aurors to determine if any of them knew the whereabouts of the missing Albus Dumbledore. When everyone agreed that no one knew the current location of the missing wizard, the meeting was declared over and everyone went home. **

The Wizengamot members were mailed copies of Fudge's report though Lady Longbottom made certain that every member also received copies of the report submitted by Amelia Bones and signed by the other members of the delegation. Fudge ignored all queries about Amelia's report, simply stating that she was overwrought with worry about the 'Hogwarts Situation' and not paying full attention to the ministry.

Then Fudge and Umbridge were shown a newspaper from Rio de Janeiro where the zombies had appeared. The two put their heads together to construct a series of articles based on wishes rather than fact. The Daily Prophet published the stories with little embellishment and no fact-checking.

**31 July 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **There's No Plague! **

This entire fiction is made up by the troublemakers who have seized control of Hogwarts!

**1 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Plague Won't Reach Britain**.

"We have to talk about this disease! It's real!" Fudge argued.

"Tell everyone it started in Africa."

"But it started in South America."

Delores slipped her hand up the minister's thigh as she said, "Nobody knows where South America is! They all know Africa is just on the other side of France."

Fudge surrendered the argument just to have an excuse to stand and move away from Delores. Her demands for his attentions left him sore and exhausted.

**3 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Plague Only Kills Muggles. Will Reduce Population of Muggles. False Warlock at Hogwarts!**

With a grin on her face, Delores said, "Let's make up a list of how magical infirni are better than muggle zombies."

**8 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Plague Doesn't Create Infirni! **

The creatures are called Zombies and they can't touch Wizards.

**11 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Plague Creates Acts of Lawlessness!**

This morning, Cornelius Fudge issued the following warning: "We understand that in the nations currently dealing with this new plague, there are acts of lawlessness occurring. Muggles are stealing water, food and something called fire arms. If this plague comes to Britain, the Ministry warns every wizard that such acts of lawlessness will be met with sentences to Azkaban."

**13 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Minister Fudge to Clear out Azkaban!**

All prisoners to be sent through veil or fed to Dementors to make room for lawless wizards arrested during plague.

**14 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Amelia Bones Fired! ****Rufus Scrimgeour**** Appointed Director of DMLE. DMLE Budget Slashed.**

Fudge quoted saying, "With closure of Azkaban, we don't need as many Aurors."

**17 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Where is Dumbledore?**

Why hasn't DMLE arrested Reuben Hagerty, the wizard who claims to be warlock and new headmaster at Hogwarts.

**19 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Dumbledore Attempting to Steal Magic of Pureblood Wizards in Britain!**

**21 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Department of Mysteries Disappears! Vanishes from Ministry of Magic**.

"We didn't need them anyway," stated Minister Cornelius Fudge.

**24 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Investigate!**

"Certain individuals are visiting homes of purebloods, trying to convince them to come to Hogwarts. The school will not begin operations again without an appropriate ministry-approved headmaster in place!" stated Cornelius Fudge.

**25 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Travel Ban Enforced by Decree by Ministry of Magic. **

No portkeys, apparition, or floo use for next 45 days. Close all doors and windows! Stay home and stay away from Muggles and Zombies (infirni).

**26 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Minister Fudge Assassinated!**

Our beloved Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic since early 1982, was found dead in his office late on 25 August. It is believed he died on the evening of 24 August during a gathering of friends at the ministry.

**28 August 1993**

Daily Prophet Headlines: **Don't Eat Postal Owls! **

The birds have no meat on them and entirely too much magic saturated through their bones to offer any nutritional value.

(Everyone noticed that the Daily Prophet was a single sheet on this day. No reporter would venture out after Rita Skeeter vanished on 3 September when trying to get an interview with the Smith family.)

The Daily Prophet ceased all publication on 6 September.

Bones and Aurors

**(12 August 1993) **

There'd been multiple arguments in the Ministry between Fudge and Bones about preparations for the coming 'problems'. The minister refused to hear the words _apocalypse, zombies, _or _collapse, etc._ Bones thought she'd made some headway with the man arguing about the threat that the civil strife – 'lawlessness' – that would sweep over Britain after the plague appeared.

But the minister and his faithful undersecretary latched onto the threat of lawlessness and began to write headlines that stressed that threat over the others. And because Fudge had to be 'seen to be doing something', they decided to execute the prisoners in Azkaban. This would 'clear out the cells' to hold future muggleborn and half-blood wizards who'd be arrested during the forthcoming 'lawlessness'.

When Amelia recoiled and refused to comply, Fudge roared his argument, "Bones! I am the Minister for Magic! If I tell you to execute all the prisoners at Azkaban, that's what you'll do!"

"Minister, this is unprecedented…"

"Your zombies are unprecedented. I have to be prepared for the worst and if you won't help me, I'll find a Director who will!"

Staring at Fudge without attempting to hide her contempt, Amelia Bones sighed and then drew a blood quill from her desk.

"To make everything magically legal, sign the execution warrant with your full name and title."

"Why?" Cornelius asked with some hesitation.

"I must have your signature to make this valid," the Director explained. "I won't… I can't complete the order if I'm not backed by you and your office."

"Really, Bones, Cornelius gave you an order…" Delores attempted to interrupt.

"Shut it!" Bones ordered the woman. "He must sign for magic to enforce the order. And you can't drag me before the Wizengamot next week saying I exceeded my authority when this execution order is produced."

As Fudge signed the order, his hand shaking just a bit, Amelia reminded them that such orders were immediately copied and stored at the ICW, Hogwarts, and the Department of Mysteries, as well as the DMLE and Minister's offices.

Sinking Azkaban

**(13 August 1993)**

On what she believed would be her last morning as Director of the DMLE, Amelia Bones signed many official papers; she prepared her acceptance of the resignations of many Aurors. Once events unfolded today, these men and women would immediately leave the ministry to return to their homes and move their families to Hogwarts. She also prepared formal letters to many members of the Wizengamot expressing her fear of the coming 'catastrophe' that was the arrival of the plague in a totally unprepared ministry.

**Minister Fudge denies the existence of the plague, the 'zombies' and the problems documented in stable magical nations such as Peru, Brazil, Sierra Leon, and Ghana when the disease erupted and then rampaged through both the muggle and magical populations. Today, these nations are devastated and dying. **

**The plague will be in Britain shortly and our people will die just as they have in other nations. **

After preparing twenty-eight copies of the letter to send to selected members, she cast spells that verified her identity as Director and opened a drawer well-hidden along the bottom of her desk. When the drawer popped open, it revealed a board with three long strings of runes. In the event of a successful attack by the armed forces of the muggles, the Director of the DMLE was required to destroy Diagon Alley, Azkaban, and the Ministry itself. Removing the evidence of the British Magical Government would help the other magical nations maintain the Statute of Secrecy.

Today, she clasped the execution warrant signed by Cornelius Fudge the previous day before pressing her forefinger against the top rune in the sequence to 'shut-down' the wizarding prison named Azkaban, a forgotten rock in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland. The runes slowly glowed and once she pressed the last one rune for the prison, the entire sequence glowed red for about five minutes before fading away.

Now there were only two lines of runes remaining and she closed the drawer. In a letter to her successor, she explained about the drawer with the two lines of runes available for the Director of the DMLE.

At Azkaban, the warden and Aurors on duty at the prison were ejected from the halls and offices in the stark, cold structure. They found themselves huddled around the dock where a single boat lay at anchor. Turning back to the prison, they watched as the windows and outside door sealed up with stone. When the last opening was nothing more than smooth stone, the structure sank back into the ground until only a few stones remained above ground.

"We need to get to the ministry!" the warden declared. "The minister must hear about this!"

There were too many Aurors for the boat to carry in a single trip so the Warden and half of the wizards went first. Then the boatman would return for the others.

"One of you keep a Patronus charm up at all times," the warden ordered the men. "Who only knows if the Dementors will escape from the rock."

In the dark and cold of the earth, the rock slowly smothered the entombed prisoners and Dementors. Even though they were vile creatures, the Dementors still required oxygen to survive. After two hours in the original stones of Azkaban, the supply of oxygen was exhausted as each wizard, witch and Dementor died.

In the early afternoon, a party of Aurors and Ministry officials returned to the island that held Azkaban prison.

Director Amelia Bones with only Aurors Alastor Moody and Freddie Swenson beside her, escorted Minister Cornelius Fudge and Undersecretary Delores Umbridge to the island. Aurors Rufus Scrimgeour and John Dawlish remained close to Fudge.

"Amelia, are you sure this is the correct place? The correct island?" asked the incredulous minister. "Where's the prison?"

"This is the correct island, Minister," Alastor replied. "Rufus, you agree?"

His wand busy with spells for coordinates, location, and detecting magic, Scrimgeour grimaced but confirmed Moody's statement.

"So, where is our prison? We're going to need it if the people break all the laws you say when the muggles turn into zombies!"

"According to Warden Smyth, this morning, Azkaban ejected the guards, sealed up all the windows and doors with stone. Then Azkaban the sank back into the earth," Auror Swenson reminded the Minister.

"So, no more prison!" Fudge declared. "But why?"

Without glancing at Bones, Moody innocently asked, "Didn't you sign an order yesterday to execute the prisoners held here at the prison? Magic must have taken that execution order seriously and just closed up the place."

"No one – not even the Dementors – could survive being entombed in stone and buried in the ground."

"Were they crushed by the stone; do you think?" Delores asked, just a bit to excitedly.

"No, Madam Umbridge, they probably suffocated when the air ran out. They dropped over dead in the dark along with the Dementors," explained Moody.

"You can't kill Dementors," Umbridge insisted.

"Yes, you can Madam Undersecretary. Just last week, we learned that angry Patronus charm animals can rip a Dementor to pieces."

"So… I did this?" asked Fudge. "I executed the dangerous prisoners and destroyed the terrible prison know as Azkaban?"

"It would appear so, Minister," replied Swenson.

"Congratulations Cornie! Uh, Minister Fudge!" squealed Delores. "This proves you're a powerful wizard and the right wizard to lead Magical Britain through the coming crisis!"

The group returned to the Ministry via a powerful portkey made by Amelia Bones. Upon their arrival at the offices, Delores sat Cornelius down and informed him, "I had a thought as we returned to the office."

"Yes," Fudge replied warily.

"Well, without the Aurors to act as guards at Azkaban, you could cut the DMLE budget… only keep the Aurors who really respect you. There'd be lots of money for a trip to somewhere warm for the Yule holidays."

Before late afternoon, Cornelius gutted the DMLE budget and he was surprised that Amelia was reasonable about the sudden cuts in the numbers of Aurors and even accepting of her own dismissal.

He promoted Scrimgeour to be the new head of DMLE and as the new director was settling in, Fudge wandered back to his office. Inside he was trapped by a spell that locked the door and by Delores reclining him on top of his desk. Fudge's personal secretary fled from the noises emanating from behind the door and no one approached the minister's office for the rest of the day.

Luna Lovegood and Sybil Trelawny met Amelia Bones at the doors of Hogwarts that evening. They escorted her first to the portrait of the Founders to hear Helga's greeting, and then into the Great Hall, where she was warmly welcomed by 'her' Aurors and their families. The best greeting came from Susan, her niece and only surviving family member.

Amelia was determined that they would survive the coming storm and make a better Magical Britain.


	6. Chapter 6

Part 6: The Early Hogwarts ExpressHEADING: Preparing for 24 August 1993

With the arrival of the first students and refugees at Hogwarts, Luna refused to speak again about the events that would unfold in at the end of the month and in September. She preferred to spend her time with the children and parents who settled into Hogwarts; the young witch insisted that the government would shut down all movement after 24 August and while Madam Bones argued there were no plans to do anything like that, Sirius reminded the Director of the DMLE that Fudge and his backers might have plans they'd not shared with her.

By the middle of August, there were a dozen Aurors with their families living in the castle along with multiple first year muggle-born students and their families. The children shared their electronic devices for music and Hagrid figured out how to power electrical devices in the castle so the youngest children could watch movies and educational shows, while the parents could watch the BBC shows and news. The muggle parents set to work to show the wizards and witches they could carry their weight and then some. The elves particularly liked the recipes for breads, cakes, and casseroles the muggles shared with them.

The big day was set for 24 August when the Hogwarts Express would make the trip from London to Hogsmeade eight days early. In early August, school letters to every student in all seven years was hand delivered by a professor – Remus, Pomona, Filius, or Andromeda Tonks, the new potions professor. While the younger students weren't told all the details of the coming year, the older students and all the parents were informed on the expectation of 'zombies' in Britain at the end of the month.

The Chang family refused to believe the story and threw Filius Flitwick out of the house. They informed him that 'Professor McGonagall' told them the truth of the matter and only once Hogwarts was 'under control' would the school open.

Mrs Edgecombe repeated the Ministry story of 'it's a problem for the muggles, not magical people'. Marietta and Cho would not return to Hogwarts.

Most purebloods refused to believe anything the crazy plant witch, werewolf, blood-traitor, or goblin-spawn had to say; many had been visited by McGonagall but their prejudices against the 'half-breed' headmaster justified the former professor's list of complaints. More than once, the professors were physically removed from the pureblood home.

There were a few exceptions; at the Greengrass home, the parents asked for some time to consider their options but agreed to send Daphne and her younger sister on the Hogwarts Express on 24 August.

The Davis family, with the mother being half-blood, were very familiar with the muggle world, well-informed on the disease spreading across the globe, and agreed to travel to Hogwarts on 24 August.

Neither family was enamoured with Dumbledore or McGonagall before the changes earlier in the summer. Flitwick believed discussions between Greengrass and Davis families over the floo led to the decision for the whole Greengrass family to travel to Hogwarts.

The Browns, and Patils refused any notion of returning to Hogwarts early or for the entire family to 'hide' there. The Patils moved back to India on 20 August and wanted nothing to do with Britain any longer. Even with Amelia Bones talking to the Abbots, Hannah's parents refused to allow their daughter or young sons to go to Hogwarts after two visits by McGonagall.

Justin Fitch-Fletchley's parents refused to commit to the scheme and also mentioned a visit by Minerva McGonagall that created doubt in their mind.

Ernie McMillian's parents asked for time to consider the idea. In the end, they agreed to send their son and his younger brother and sister, but the parents wouldn't take refuge themselves. If Hogwarts was going to provide childcare for children under eleven, the McMillians would take advantage of the service and take an extended vacation in southern France with the muggles.

(++**++)

Zacharias Smith's father and mother laughed at Pomona and suggested that she take early retirement. Zach and his parents were members of Hufflepuff and for them to speak in such tones to Professor Sprout set the witch's nerves on edge immediately

"Minerva McGonagall warned us you'd be up to something," Thaddeus Smith told the head of his old house.

"What?" asked the surprised witch. "McGonagall…"

The man smiled, attempting to look threatening but merely looking insufferable as he explained, "Yes, McGonagall visited us just the other day and explained how you've got a half-giant claiming to be a warlock as headmaster. Didn't think the half-breed had a wand and could perform any magic!"

Sprout argued, "Headmaster Hagrid is a warlock! He created his staff, just as the legends say!"

"That's just a story," the man said to dismiss the idea completely.

Pomona frowned; a sight that did make Thaddeus Smith pause. Then the herbology professor continued, "Perhaps you would like to come to Hogwarts and discuss your beliefs with the portrait of Helga Hufflepuff! The portrait of the four Founders is available to everyone in the entrance hall."

The professor stood to leave. "I'm certain Helga can clear up your family's 'claim' to be her descendants within the first five minutes of a most uncomfortable conversation."

"Portrait?" Smith asked but then frowned. "Just another trick… like the half-giant with a staff being a warlock."

Too angry to continue the lost conversation, Pomona left by the front door rather than use the floo. She walked for ten minutes along a country road until calm enough to find a stand of trees and apparate back to Hogwarts. She didn't bother to send Zach the headmaster's list of spells that under-age students could perform to help their families with the approaching apocalypse.

(++**++)

HEADING: Minerva's Prophecy Fulfilled

On 24 August, shortly before 11:00AM, the Hogwarts Express was loaded to full capacity with children, younger siblings, parents, grandparents and a few friends tucked into expanded carriages. Platform 9¾ had been exceptionally busy since 8:00AM as many more passengers arrived to climb on the train. When the number of trunks and boxes began to pile up in the narrow hallways of the carriages, Professor Flitwick who was one of the chaperones on this trip, sent for house elves from the castle. The elves popped the luggage from the train to Hogwarts to make room on the train for people.

"We've already saved a lot of people today," Sirius told Harry as the entire Creevey family waved from a window and Dennis took a photo of the deserted platform. Then the floo in the nearby 'arrival and departure' room flashed twice more to deposit Fred and George Weasley with their shared trunk.

Harry ran to greet the twins. Everyone was emotional today and Sirius stayed close to his godson while Remus cast the spell to shrink the trunk for the sombre twins – their parents and younger brother didn't follow them through the floo.

"Where's Ron? Where's your Mum and Dad?" Harry asked with concern in his voice.

"We had a visitor last night," said Fred beginning twin speak that Harry followed perfectly though Sirius and Remus both had to blink to keep up with George and Fred throwing the sentences back and forth.

"McGonagall just happened to drop by and she had lots to say," George said.

"She said she was there to talk some sense into Mom and Dad about Hogwarts," Fred continued.

"Said unkind things about Hagrid and about Flitwick…"

"…and about your godfather," added Fred though Sirius merely snorted but otherwise remained silent.

"Dad mentioned Professor Lupin being there and McGonagall went on tear about him being a werewolf," George continued.

"That scared Mum and she started crying again," Fred said sadly.

"She said none of her children would go back to 'that' place."

"McGonagall looked like she wanted to say more…"

"…about Dumbledore but she knew that'd turn Mum against her, we reckoned."

"Mum hid the floo powder so we couldn't leave."

Remus asked, "How did you get away this morning?"

"Bill came by to talk to Mum and Dad," Fred explained.

"He brought enough floo powder to get us from the Burrow to the Leaky Cauldron,"

"Then we paid for powder to get here."

Harry asked, "Where's Ron?"

"He wanted to stay with Mum and Dad," Fred replied.

Sirius asked, "And Bill? Will he stay at Gringotts?"

"He said that the goblins are putting all human employees on furlough at noon today. Bill's coming to Hogwarts if he can't get hold of Charlie and get him to come home."

A warning whistle blew and Remus interrupted the conversation. "Better get on board boys. We'll have Harry there before supper."

"Good luck today," George said and Fred agreed. "You'll make 'em see sense!"

Fred and George made it in the last car just as the engine blew the whistle and began to pull away from the station. Harry stood and watched until the last car disappeared in the distance.

There were no late arrivals so the two wizards and boy left to make their last appeals.

(++**++)

"You know, McGonagall's going to go spare when she learns she's a seer," Sirius told Harry and Remus.

"What do you mean?"

"Remember at Hogwarts when she made that prediction about her and Dumbleshit not being at Hogwarts and the Express not running on the first of September?"

Remus was quiet but Harry exclaimed, "You're right! She did predict that!"

"Well, it sounds more like she's an anti-Seer," Remus said. "She predicted a negative and it will come true on the first of September because of something that's happening today."

Sirius laughed and made fun of the label, "Anti-Seer… Sounds like an unpleasant relative you hope doesn't show up for your birthday party… _Mummy don't invite Aunti-Seer this year. She depressed everyone last year_."

Harry scoffed and motioned for Sirius and Remus to follow him into the 'arrival and departure' room in the train station to begin their visits.

(++**++)

HEADING: Talking with the Grangers

**(Morning / 24 August 1993)**

Ringing the doorbell at the Granger home in Crawley was a surreal experience for Harry, his godfather and honorary uncle were behind him with their wands ready for any kind of trouble as they waited for 'zombies' to come to Britain. The door opened slowly as a tall man stood blocking the entrance while looking over the boy and men standing on his front porch.

"Good morning, Dr Granger, I'm Harry Potter," the boy said. He motioned toward the men behind him and introduced them as, "This my godfather, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin, the DADA professor for the coming year."

"What do you want?" the man asked without opening the door further or inviting them inside.

Sirius and Remus instantly recognized the man's hostility but didn't respond with any threatening gesture, in fact they stood very still except for making a closer survey of the neighbourhood. They checked again to make certain there were no wizards hiding nearby or any listening charms placed on the porch.

"I wanted to talk to Hermione, sir," Harry explained not taking his eyes off the man at the door or attempting to glance into the house.

"I don't think that's a good idea," her father replied. "She's very upset with you and all the magicals misfits in Britain. Once things settle down, her mother and I…"

The man stopped speaking and Remus caught his eye and nodded in agreement with the idea of getting the hell out of Britain. This simple nod changed the man's attitude.

"What do you want to talk to her about?" he asked.

"I want your family to come to Hogwarts today!" Harry insisted while trying not to be threatening.

"Why? Because of this disease?"

"Yes," replied Harry as he also nodded.

"How is a castle in Scotland going to protect us from some disease?"

Now, Sirius motioned toward Remus and said, "This man has all the answers."

Remus nodded and began, "In times of lawlessness like we expect to spread across Britain once the plague is here, people gather together in protected locations where bandits can't get to them. You'll see civil order and services collapse within two weeks."

"Gangs will be after your water and food," Sirius said.

"And after your wife and daughter," Remus added bluntly. "Plus, there'll be the dead people walking around trying to eat everyone who isn't dead when the survivors try to get to food, water or safety."

Rather than denying the man's statement, Mr Granger nodded. "I have been following the news and talking to some old army buddies. The government is being very tight lipped about all this…"

"They're afraid of creating a panic," Sirius interjected. "The virus appeared in Argentina last week. The government radio told everyone to hide and the entire country went berserk and burned in two days."

From inside came a woman's voice, "Let them in Dan. They can't be any worse than that woman the other day."

The man, now identified as 'Dan', stepped back and allowed Harry and the two wizards to come inside.

"This is my wife, Dr Ophelia Granger, and I'm Dr Daniel Granger," the man said.

Harry's sigh of relief at seeing Hermione sitting on one of the stairs was audible to everyone.

"Are you okay?" the boy asked the girl, and she nodded once but said nothing.

"Mrs Granger, this is Harry Potter," Sirius said motioning toward his godson. Moving his hand toward the other man, he continued, "He's Remus Lupin, the DADA professor for Hogwarts this year."

Pointing to himself before he bowed, he continued, "And I'm Sirius Black, Harry's godfather."

"We've heard about all three of you," Mrs Granger said glancing at her daughter. Dan stepped closer to his wife and left the door standing open. They weren't invited into the lounge or kitchen to sit and talk so Harry knelt on the floor and spoke directly to Hermione.

"There are going to be dead people – not infirni – walking round your neighbourhood next week. They bite and eat people. Then the people they bite turn into more zombies, get up and bite other people," Harry said. "Come to Hogwarts and be safe."

"How do you know they're not infirni?" asked Hermione.

Sirius answered this question, "According to the books, it takes a wizard three days to make one infirni using six different spells, potions, and rituals. Infirni can kill people but they don't eat them."

He paused and then continued, "The Aurors have seen muggle films of these things – zombies as Harry calls them – where muggles are bitten and turn into a zombie within an hour without any wizard doing anything to them."

"Just muggles?" asked Hermione with a frown.

Remus shook his head. "Not just muggles; wizard and witches too. The Brazil sent pictures to the ICW of wizards being turned before their ministry fell the other day. All of South America is full of zombies after just six weeks."

Hermione's tone became accusatory as she asked, "And why are you blaming this on Professor Dumbledore? Professor McGonagall said that you'd run Dumbledore out of Hogwarts, fired her, and put Hagrid in charge… How can Hagrid be headmaster? He's stupid!"

"I didn't say anything about Dumbledore," Harry argued.

Wincing, Sirius asked, "Has McGonagall been here?"

The witch had visited purebloods, muggleborns and half-bloods, turning their families against Hagrid and Hogwarts.

"She visited day before yesterday with a long story about hijacking the castle from Dumbledore's control, and then her dismissal," Mrs Granger replied as Hermione's face grew stormy.

Remus addressed Hermione's parents saying, "Minerva McGonagall cannot believe that Albus Dumbledore did this terrible thing but the International Council of Wizards has gathered proof and locked him up. Dumbledore performed a forbidden ritual that sacrificed the life of a child. He created a disease that is going to destroy civilization."

"He didn't mean to create a disease," Hermione argued. "He wouldn't do that…"

"Perhaps, nonetheless he used a ritual that was never meant to be cast – it was designed to kill every wizard who used it. But Dumbledore read the book and didn't ask anyone else about the spell he picked. He ignored the warnings in the beginning of the book that none of the spells worked as described," Sirius responded.

Hermione looked confused – why would Headmaster Dumbledore not have read the entire book?

"That witch who showed up… McGonagall, she said you're a murderer and that you're a monster," Dan stated, motioning toward Sirius and Remus.

"The Daily Prophet carried the story about my exoneration," Sirius replied coolly. "I believe your daughter has a subscription."

Hermione looked away but Dan finally nodded and pointed toward Remus.

"I'm a… I was a werewolf," the DADA professor explained.

"That can't be cured," Hermione said. "Nothing will cure you except a silver blade!"

Sirius was close to losing his temper with the rude child but Remus shut her up by saying, "Miss Granger, a silver muggle bullet fired from a good distance away is the only way to kill a werewolf and not be bitten. Throw a silver blade at a turned werewolf is foolishness. He'd be all over you faster than fate."

Sirius said, "That's why you never find any middle-aged werewolf hunters."

Now Harry stood up and explained how the new wards at Hogwarts cured Remus and caught the traitor Peter Pettigrew, and how this power meant that none of the zombies could get inside the castle grounds.

"I don't believe you. Professor McGonagall wouldn't lie to me!" stated Hermione again.

"She's angry because she wasn't promoted to be headmistress. When she became abusive and threatening, Hagrid fired her," Sirius said, stepping closer to Harry who had tears running down his face.

"How could he fire her? He's just the groundskeeper?" Hermione demanded to know.

"He's headmaster now and the castle's magic backs his decisions," Remus said.

Hopeful of cutting this painful interview off, Dan said, "If things get bad next week, we'll come to Hogwarts."

Sirius shook his head while Remus explained, "Today's the last day for free travel in Britain for a time… maybe a long time. Both muggle and magical governments are going to order all travel between cities to stop at midnight. You can go to the shops but you can't leave your town or neighbourhood."

Both Granger adults were startled by that announcement.

Hermione shook her head. "Wizards can apparate or use port keys."

"Not if there's a ward set by the ministry," Remus said. "Magic has to follow the laws if they're in place."

"How long will this last?" asked Dan. "Shouldn't the dead bodies decay this fall or freeze over the winter?"

Harry shook his head and said, "It'll be at least two years before the zombies fall apart. The disease created by Dumbledore's spell will keep them going for that long."

"You don't know that Harry Potter!" Hermione argued. "The human body decays rapidly in the natural environment. Within a year, they'll be gone."

The girl's lips were set in a firm line as Harry pleaded, "Please, please, come to Hogwarts with us!"

"Harry, my Dad knows best," Hermione told him. "We're staying here."

Now Sirius stepped forward and asked, "Miss Granger, when McGonagall was here…"

"Professor McGonagall!" the girl insisted vehemently.

"Shut it, Hermione," her mother ordered.

Sirius nodded toward Mrs Granger but continued his question, "Did she tell you that you can use magic to defend your family and home and family?"

"No…" Hermione replied, shaking her head. "She reminded me that the Statute of Secrecy still applied even if Hogwarts had been corrupted…"

"Corrupted? She used that word?" asked Sirius.

Remus stepped forward and picked up the explanation saying, "When the event occurred on 7 July at Hogwarts; whatever it was and whoever did it, some powerful wizard created a massively powerful portkey to move something very large from under the castle. When the portkey was activated, every device for monitoring portkeys, apparition, and underage magic was fried across the whole of Europe."

He looked at the parents and added, "No one at the ministry knows that we apparated into your neighbourhood or will be able to track us when we leave."

He nodded and pointed around the house, saying, "The ministry doesn't have any way of noticing if your daughter uses her wand to cast spells to make the front windows and door impervious to bricks, rocks, or people. You might also put the notice-me-not spell on these same windows and doors."

Sirius pulled a small book from a pocket and restored it to normal size before handing it Mrs Granger who examined it briefly before handing it to her daughter who was suddenly interested while Remus continued with his explanation.

"Headmaster Warlock Hagrid prepared this lesson plan for the muggle-born children who weren't able to come to Hogwarts today. First is a core-strengthening exercise that you should do once a day but never more than once a day. As a growing witch you must eat properly, drink water, and get plenty of sleep."

Hermione scowled to be lectured like a small child but then noticed her parents listening closely to the 'werewolf'.

"You should cast the notice-me-not spell on the front of your house and garage door every other day. Don't try casting it on the entire house because that would take too much of your magic."

"So that'll keep the zombies from seeing us?" asked Dan.

"No," Sirius replied. "It'll keep your desperate neighbours and any gang members riding or walking by from seeing your house. What'll hide you from the zombies is a silencing spell that has to be renewed every twelve hours."

Questioning Remus's assertion, Mrs Granger asked, "Gangs? Really? In Britain?"

Mr Granger shook his head at his wife's question, "Gangs and criminals always come out of the woodwork when there's a disaster. The BBC did a report on the fires in Rio de Janeiro yesterday – all attributed to gang violence, not zombies."

Remus concluded his instructions by speaking to Hermione directly, "If you have to use your wand to kill zombies, go immediately for their head. A bombard will be powerful enough to damage the brain if not explode the head."

Harry added, "The aguamenti spell will let you create clean water too. If the pipes go out, you will have water to drink and the bath."

Without another word, Sirius led Harry from the house. At the door, Remus turned around and looked at Mr Granger, "Even after Hermione uses spells, you should still block this door with a large cabinet. Your windows on the ground floor are high so no one can get in that way. Lock any gates in the backyard and block the back door too."

"Remember, the only way to stop the zombies is to hit them in the head so hard you damage their brain. Save Hermione's bombards for a desperate moment! Sharp points through the eyes or the skull work, and so do things like bats that crack the skull," Sirius added quickly.

Then he looked at Mrs Granger and said, "Buy foods that don't have to be refrigerated or cooked. You'll need lots of bottled water too. You may be here for a year or more without help."

"Go away!" Hermione shouted from the staircase. "Give up and go away!"

(++**++)

Before lunch, Mr and Mrs Granger talked without Hermione present; they'd paid attention to the news to know that this new terrible disease was sweeping across the whole of South America and Africa with scattered reports of illness in Mexico, Texas, Spain, and now India. That afternoon, Dan bought new padlocks and chains for the gates in the back yard, a long metal pole called a wrecking bar with one sharp end, and three boxes of ammunition for his shot gun. He moved a large china cabinet into the foyer to be able to easily block the front door and purchased large sheets of plywood to nail on the insides of the other windows facing the street.

During the afternoon, Mrs Granger made three surreptitious trips to three different shops for groceries while Hermione was engrossed in the lessons from the headmaster she denied. Ophelia filled the garage with cases of breakfast bars, dried fruit, canned vegetables, and cases of water. If Hermione knew about one additional purchase, she would have been shocked – her mother bought several cases of chocolate bars.

(++**++)

Apparating to Hyde Park in London, Sirius sat on a bench to comfort his godson while Remus purchased ices for them all. When the Boy-Who-Lived was recovered enough from his best friend's refusal to listen, he stood and told Sirius and Remus that they had to keep trying.

(++**++)

Harry and his two escorts visited three other families and one hospital that day. When they apparated into the backyard of the Finnigan house, they discovered that Seamus and his family were already gone.

Remus's sense of smell confirmed the Finnigan family left only recently – perhaps the previous night. Sirius hugged Harry and assured him that they'd keep trying.

(++**++)

HEADING: Dean Thomas

At the next house, the Thomas family, Dean's mother came out of the kitchen sprinkling garlic infused water on them and chanting for the evil spirits to be gone.

"What are you doing?" asked Sirius as the woman kept lifting the cross she wore around her neck and 'banishing' them.

"We had a call from my grandmother back home. The sickness is there and Gran said the dead had risen and were eating people," Dean said as his mother ran back into the kitchen screaming for her mother to call her again.

"She wouldn't go to Hogwarts and I need to stay with her," the boy explained. "She'll be okay in a week or so."

"Give Dean money," Harry told Sirius who nodded and handed over a huge wad of paper – different denominations of British pounds.

"Where'd you get this?" Dean asked.

Harry brushed off the comment saying, "My godfather is rich but money won't count next week and I want you to have a chance…"

Dean looked around at the house and asked, "What do I do?" 

After giving Dean the news about the ministry being blind to seeing muggleborns using magic and giving him the lessons from Hagrid, Remus added, "Board up these front windows and use something to block that back door. Your front door will hold up with a good notice-me-not spell every other day – there's no glass."

"Go to the stores at night and buy food and water," Sirius said looking at the layout of the small house and pointed to the stairs. "Bathroom upstairs?"

When Dean nodded in confirmation, Sirius smiled.

"Put the food and water upstairs. You've got a very narrow staircase that you can block off with some chairs. We've been told the… well, they don't climb stairs."

"Good luck," Harry said as they left.

"Thanks, Harry," replied Dean, fearful of the next few weeks with his grieving mother and the threat of zombies. But he had cash to spend on food and spells to provide some protection.

(++**++)

HEADING: St. Mungo's

At St. Mungo's, Sirius, Remus, and Harry found the intake desk deserted. They wandered into the hospital and discovered the emergency department busy with some spell misfire damage to a wizard from Cornwall.

"Point me Neville Longbottom," Remus cast and his wand directed them up a floor and toward the back of the hospital. There in the Janus Thickery Ward, they found Lady Longbottom holding a pair of healers at wand point as house elves and Neville dressed Alice and Frank.

"Lady Longbottom, this is ridiculous!" one of the healers tried to argue. "There's absolutely no reason for you to disrupt their treatments…"

"Treatments? What treatments?" Augusta sneered. "they've been here for twelve years and all you do is change their bedpans!"

"Can we be of help, Lady Longbottom?" Sirius asked as he twirled his wand in his hand.

To further intimidate the healers, Remus growled rather loudly and Harry Potter moved to stand beside Augusta, a frown on his face that the healers could imagine on the cover of the Daily Prophet with a headline about mistreatment at the hospital.

"Ready Gran," called Neville before the boy, the elves, and his parents vanished with a loud pop.

"Well, Augusta, I hope you're happy," one wizard said bitterly.

"First you and these wild men," the wizard said motioning toward Remus and Sirius spread wild stories here at St. Mungo's about inferni coming and get healers to desert their jobs. Then you warn everyone to get their family members out of Janus Thickery…"

"I believe there were only a few healers who resigned," Remus corrected the man. "And most of them…"

"Six," Sirius answered.

"Were half-bloods."

The wizard sneered, "Get out! All of you get out!"

(++**++)

HEADING: Harry Talks with Dudley and Petunia

**(Afternoon / 24 August 1993) (Tuesday) **

The final visit of the day was the one Harry dreaded the most but felt an obligation to make. After being rejected by Hermione, nothing that his 'family' could say would hurt worse.

The house at No.4 Privet Drive was quiet except for the noise of a BBC news broadcast on the radio in the kitchen. Petunia Dursley sat in her spotless kitchen, wondering how the strange news reports from South America and then Africa could be real.

A voice she hoped to never hear again, pulled the woman from her thoughts, "Aunt Petunia, I need to speak to you."

Looking up to find her nephew standing in the doorway, Petunia Dursley frowned before she spit out, "You ran away last month. Go back and stay this time!"

"Mum," Dudley said, standing beside the boy. "Harry's got a freaky story to tell you."

Staring at her nephew, Petunia scowled, "What have you told Dud…"

"His story is creepy," Dudley shouted. "Listen to him!"

Petunia was shocked into silence to hear her son speak like that and stared at him. It took a few seconds to realize the freak was speaking.

"… stories about zombies are real. Even magical people are scared… well some of them are scared. I came to tell you to find a safe place with lots of food."

"What kind of safe place?" Petunia asked.

Harry explained, "A place where they can't get to you and you have food and water to last for a long time. The zombies are dead and they can only be stopped by guns or spells that hit them in the head…"

The boy paused and looked at his cousin first and then back at his aunt before continuing, "The only way to stop them is to hit them in the head, real hard. You hurt the brain to stop them."

"You and your freaky people – this isn't real. How can zombies be real?" Petunia asked.

"I don't know," Harry admitted. "One of my friends – she was raised in the regular world like me – she thinks zombies will rot and fall apart after a year."

He shrugged, "I'm not sure why she thinks that because no one has had a chance to study zombies that I know of."

Petunia's usually numb brain kicked in and she remembered story lines from some of her shows on the telly. "I imagine she's taken the idea from a book or show on the telly. There are forensic scientists who study corpses and how they decay… It's helps the police."

"But zombies are cool!" Dudley insisted. "Do you think there'll be any here in Surry?"

Aghast to hear the notion of dead people walking around in Little Whinging, Petunia asked, "Dudley, why are you listening to this tripe?"

Her son took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he explained, "The Polkiss family drove off last night. Piers always said his mum and da were survival-nuts. The news on the BBC scared them. Piers told me they were heading to a camp they have in the mountains in Wales but then his sister pinched him and whined their da said not to tell anyone. They took all their food and money but left their computers, telly, and everything…"

Petunia dismissed her son's statement. "Norma said they were going camping…"

Dudley shrugged and added, "Piers said they'd buy food at different stores and hide it. Said his Da said it would have to last a couple years."

Nodding at his cousin, Harry asked, "Aunt, do you remember that island we went to that night to hide from the magic people two years ago?"

Reluctantly, Petunia sighed and nodded.

"Does Vernon's company own it?"

"No, my grandfather owned it. I own it now…" she admitted. "The government leases it for the light house…"

"You need to go there with as much food as you can carry…" the boy said but Petunia waved him away.

"And I'll send you food," Harry said. "It'll be packaged stuff or raw foods to help you but you have to have some saved there too."

"No. I don't believe this story on the radio and I certainly won't believe anything you tell me."

Dudley was excited for the idea of an adventure when he said, "Mum! We can drive there and hide from the zombies. It'll all be over in a week."

Petunia rose to her feet and pointed at Harry, "You freak! You're scaring Dudley! Go to your room and stay there until Vernon gets home."

Ignoring Petunia who stood there trembling, Harry turned to Dudley and said, "I tried to warn you, Dud. If you don't leave before Saturday, you and your parents'll need to barricade and stay inside the house."

(++**++)

When Harry Potter left the house of his aunt and uncle that afternoon, he walked to a nearby alley where a wolf and dog waited for him. Without any discussion, the three of them disappeared with the help of a powerful portkey from Warlock Hagrid and reappeared in a field in front of the castle. There, house elves harvested summer squash; the dog transformed into his wizard form before Sirius Black said, "I can't stand the soup Gertie makes with these things…"

"But you like the biscuits and the cakes she makes with them. They extend the flour…"

"How do you 'extend' flour? Is that a muggle thing?" Sirius asked.

(++**++)

HEADING: Petunia and Vernon Dursley Talk

"Thank goodness he's gone! Please don't ever come back from wherever you went!" Petunia prayed, wishing to never see her nephew's face again.

"Mum! I want to go to the island!" whined Dudley, still thinking everything was a game.

"We'll talk with your father when he gets home," Petunia informed her son but Dudley stomped his feet and shouted back with abusive language that left his mother speechless. Then he ran up the stairs before he thundered back down the stairs and out the front door.

(++**++)

Ignoring the sounds from upstairs and the front door, Petunia prepared supper. When Vernon returned home, he was very quiet.

"Where's Dudley?" he asked as she began putting supper on the table.

"I think he's in his room," she replied listlessly. Vernon went up the stairs before she remembered hearing her son leave again. Her husband quickly returned with a note written by Dudley.

"Petunia, what did the freak say to you this afternoon?"

She sat at the table and began crying while her husband tried to comfort her.

"Please Pet, what did that horrible boy say?"

"The boy convinced Dudley that the freaky stories from South America are real – there are zombies. And he said it would be here… in Surry by Saturday."

"What else?"

"Harry… Harry said to go to the lighthouse again. Take as much food as we could get and stay there. He said he'd send food," she made a motion with her hands imitating a spell and didn't say more.

"And Dudley believed him?"

Petunia nodded. She pointed out of the house and continued, "Dudley said the Polkiss family left last night for some place in Wales they know."

Vernon nodded, "Norma and Jack own an abandoned coal mine; they can close it off with doors. But that's a death trap. The island would be better."

"You believe…"

Vernon shook his head and then shrugged, "I don't know what I believe. I know nothing can get here from Africa that fast… But we had a call from our sales team in Ghana this morning. Their government is a big client for oil well drills… The guys said the country is falling apart after just three days. Dead people are walking around and eating people."

"The government won't let anyone fly into or out of Britain or Ireland after this morning. Ships aren't allowed to enter the ports. The navy and air force have been told to sink any boats coming to ports. We had to tell the guys overseas they're on their own."

Petunia began crying…

"If there's any problems here next week, we'll take Dudley and head for the island."

"What about Marge?"

Vernon turned around and sat for a moment before he said, "No, we don't say a word to Marge. She'd bring those damn dogs and I refuse to clean up dog crap for God only knows how long."

(++**++)

HEADING: No More Travel!

**(Late afternoon 24 August 1993) **

On the radio and telly, a single message was being broadcast, "This is the BBC. By order of the government all persons are hereby ordered to limit travel to the limits of their town or borough. This order goes into effect at midnight tonight 24 October. Do not cross county lines. Citizens of large cities are to remain within the metropolitan limits. This restriction is an effort to curtain the spread of the contagion called the 'plague'. Limit your contact to your family and avoid all other persons. The travel restriction is in place for the next 45 days. This order may be extended on 7 October if so desired by the government."

"This is the BBC. By order…"

(++**++)

"Will you go to the office tomorrow?" Justin Finch-Fletchley asked his father.

"I don't think so," his father replied. "We're thirty miles outside London and I'd have to cross several town limits."

"So, the banks are closed?"

"Yes, I'm certain they'll all be closed," Mr Finch-Fletchley replied.

Then he asked, "Did you cast those spells on the windows to make them stronger? So, people can't see them?"

(++**++)

"Mum, does this mean the shops in town will be closed?" Hermione asked. "I wanted to look for some books…"

"We'll see in the morning," Ophelia replied. "Have you cast the spells to hide the front door yet?"

(++**++)

"Hannah, where are your brothers?"

"I think they're in the back yard," the teenage witch replied, staring at the mirror in the bathroom and wondering how her hair would look if it was shorter.

"Your father got the message that the Ministry is shutting down all the floo connections and putting up a portkey ward over the whole country."

"A what?" the girl asked. "Can't I go visit Susan for a few days?"

"No, Hannah. Your father thinks it's better if you stay here."

The two young boys tore into the house, clamouring for milk and biscuits. Hannah watched her mother hurry to the kitchen and set a small plate with just two biscuits and then pour two small cups of milk for her brothers.

She glanced at the counters in the kitchen – they were piled high with prepared foods and she knew the pantry was full also.

'_Is this really happening?'_ Hannah asked herself. She reached for the letter from Susan with the lessons from Hagrid for home defence.

"Mom, I can do the notice-me-not spell on the doors," Hannah offered.

Her mom smiled with tears in her eyes as she hugged her daughter. "I love you, Hannah. Thank you, but let's wait until Dad is home before we start throwing spells against the walls."

(++**++)

"I don't like this!"

"Cho, dear, you have to help us with the spells on the doors."

"I understand that but I don't like it. Why did the Daily Prophet say there's no such thing as zombies and now they're telling us how to keep zombies out of the house?"

(++**++)

"So, the muggles are scared! So what?" asked Draco. "I can still see my friends and we can go flying over the estate. Why do I care if no one can get to Hogwarts on the first?"

"What about our studies?" asked Pansy. The Parkinson manor was close enough to fly on a broomstick between their homes, while Greg and Vincent's families lived in houses on the Malfoy estate.

Draco shook his head. "We're so far ahead of the mudbloods and blood traitors, we can coast through the fall until the ministry restores control at Hogwarts. Father and Mother are talking to the minister about it tonight."

"Draco, did you notice how the Daily Prophet keeps changing the ministry's statements?" asked Theo Nott. "They've gone from saying there's no such thing as a zombie to…"

"Nott, we don't question the minister in this house!"

(++**++)

All of the parents of this group of Slytherin students were gathering at the Ministry of Magic for a reception to mark the 'fall of the muggles' with the arrival of the plague. The different parents would travel to Malfoy Manor before midnight to collect their children and return home to await the end of the muggles.

Later in the afternoon, before time for supper and long before they were be taken home by their parents, Theo made his excuses to leave early – a headache would send him to bed once he was home.

The dark-haired boy stepped through the flames and vanished.

"Do you think he really had a headache?" Pansy asked, watching Draco closely.

"I don't care really. That's a proper pureblood excuse to leave a gathering and it would be rude to press him… Besides he's no fun when he's thinking too much."

(++**++)

At his home, Theo Nott found that the floo was open to Hogsmeade and he stepped into the flames again before 6:00PM and stepped out in the Three Broomsticks Tavern. Rosie's customers were all local wizards and witches this evening.

"Did ye miss the Express in London this morning?" asked one old witch. "Heard they came a week early this year…"

Theo nodded and agreed. "Yes, I missed the train and thought I'd just fly up to the castle before sunset."

Rosie stepped from behind her counter to take the boy outside. As Theo pulled a shrunken broom from his pocket, the tavern keeper said, "Don't try to fly over the hedge-wall that's around the castle. Land in front of the old gate and the sentry will take you in. Hurry, the sun sets in about twenty minutes."

(++**++)

Moody saw the boy on the broomstick almost as soon as he rose from the ground in Hogsmeade. He cast a spell to create a lighted landing area in front of the hedge and in only five minutes the boy landed there.

"Evening, I'm Theo Nott and I've come for the new school year," the boy explained as he put the broomstick on the ground.

"Bring your trunk?"

"Yes… Yes, sir," Theo replied, deciding to be polite.

"Very well," the sentry replied. "I have to warn you that if you hold ill-intent or carry anything dark on you, the hedge might throw you out."

"The hedge?" Theo asked incredulously as the leaves along the hedge rustled enough to catch the boy's attention.

"Yep."

Faltering just a bit, Theo shook his head, "I received a letter from a friend who is already here. She said it was safe and there'd be classes. I don't believe anything the ministry is spouting."

"Go on through. An elf will be waiting to pop you into the entrance hall where'll you receive a physical exam."

"What?" the boy asked as he collected his broom and moved toward the gateway.

"Starting today… everyone who wants to come to Hogwarts has to show they're not sick with the plague."

"Is it here already?" Theo asked with concern in his voice.

"Hopefully not but we're putting all the protections in place."

Theo hurried through the gate and he did feel a slight touch to his mind but it was merely welcoming. An elf popped him into a secure room just off the entrance hall where he was stripped and examined by two male healers. They divested him of all his belongings and everything was searched. When the healers and inspectors were confident the boy was well and not carrying contraband, he was escorted into the Great Hall.

"Theo!" shouted Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis as they rose from their chairs at one of many round tables in the hall. They hurried to hug and welcome their classmate, leading him first to Warlock Hagrid to be welcomed and then to an empty chair that had appeared at their table. Theo found himself welcomed by familiar faces from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw as well as other Slytherins like Blaise Zambini and Millicent Bulstrode.

Daphne's parents and Tracy's parents discussed the appearance of the boy quietly but the Warlock didn't appear disturbed about having another Slytherin in Hogwarts.

"Did you eat yet?"

"Did you bring your potions ingredients book? I left mine and of course there's no way to get it now…"

Theo noticed how much things had changed but also how some things remained the same and he felt safe for the first time in a month.

(++**++)

HEADING: Training

Standing before the assembly of students in the Great Hall, half of the regular number of students, Alastor Moody took his first day as Professor of History and Special Lessons, to heart as he announced, "Well now, we've started school and Headmaster Hagrid, Deputy Headmistress Bones and… the hedge-wall, have asked me to begin some battlefield training with all students over the age of eleven."

There were a few murmurs to hear the 'hedge' referred to as though it was a person but only by a few of the adults. The elves and students all 'knew' the hedge was Hogwarts.

There'd been a loud and boisterous meeting of adults in the Great Hall where Hagrid, Moody and Bones faced down unhappy muggle and magical parents. The Aurors who'd taken refuge at Hogwarts were first to agree to the plans to begin training all children how to survive a zombie attack, an attack by a gang of muggles, or a gang of wizards.

Eventually all adults agreed for the children to begin learning techniques to dodge around a few zombies, defensive spells (shields, notice-me-not, silencing), and offensive spells (piercing, bludgeoning, and cutting).

Harry Potter focused his attention on each of his classes and soon caught up with Susan Bones, Theo Nott and Daphne Greengrass in their knowledge of spells and standard techniques. Sirius Black worried when his godson seemed to shimmer with magical power while practicing but Hagrid assured the new Professor for Transfiguration that Harry was safely expanding his core.

But no one, not even Alastor Moody, could match Luna Lovegood for her skill with dodging dummy zombies or blasting dummies of attacking muggles and wizards. She stared across the walls in different directions with tears falling down her face some days until one of the other children would bring her down the stairs to play with the little children until she smiled again.

Another star of the training sessions was Pomona Sprout who worked tirelessly to beat the zombies and survive the spells thrown at her by Moody, Bones, Lupin and Black at different times. When Augusta Longbottom asked the woman why she was working so hard, Sprout replied, "I have to be strong for my kids. We're going to ask them to survive and live in this world so I have to set an example and help them anyway I can."

(++**++)

HEADING: Zombies and Death

**Little Whining, Surry**

Over the next three days, Dudley found fewer of his friends roaming the neighbourhood and none of the little kids he liked to chase and beat up. Everyone stayed home behind closed doors.

Vernon was angry when he came home – there were too many workers out 'sick' to get any work done. The boss ordered the plant to close for a week but office workers were still required to come in each morning. Petunia reported the grocer was running low on many items already – people had already begun to horde food.

"And there wasn't a single bog roll left in any store! Not one!" she complained as she fed her husband and son enough food to feed a normal family for three days.

(++**++)

**(Tuesday August 31, 1993) **

It was the following Tuesday afternoon when Vernon saw his first zombie. He was standing at the window in his office looking at the parking lot. The phones were out this morning and the BBC was broadcasting a few repeating stories on safety and security at home. As Vernon watched, a man, covered in blood, shuffled after a woman who kept screaming and attracting the attention of other bloody corpses. She was finally trapped between two zombies and two cars – she opened one car door but didn't pull it shut behind her fast enough. Even from fifty yards away, Vernon could see the blood covering the back window of the car and hear the screams. He grabbed his keys and left his coat on the way out the door.

In the parking lot, he pushed two co-workers to the ground to give the pursuing creatures something to feed on. Before he reached his car, a younger, slender salesman ran by and muttered, "You're turn lard butt..."

Vernon barely had time to turn his head before a zombie grabbed his arm and bit down.

(++**++)

When Vernon's car finally appeared in the driveway, Petunia hurried from the house to help him into the front door.

"Pet, get the first aid kit. I got bit and it hurts terrible."

"You… you're bit?" she shrieked and pulled him toward house. Inside their house, they would be safe… the disease would stay outside. Vernon looked lost for a moment – his skinny wife pulled him along as if he weighed next to nothing.

Her eyes wild, Petunia told him, "No.5… the entire family ran down the street with zombies chasing them… the couple from No.7 chased them…"

"Did they come back?" Vernon asked and Petunia shook her head.

"Where's Dudley?"

"He's out…"

"Out!" Vernon shouted. He turned around to go look for Dudley but froze as the moans of more than one zombie filled the afternoon air.

"Into the house… Hurry!" Vernon ordered his wife as quietly as he could.

He closed the door carefully being silent and locked it. While Petunia went for the first aid kit, Vernon slowly closed the blinds and made certain every light was off. He turned the telly very low and listened with half an ear as the BBC reported the appearance of zombies at Gatwick just outside London that morning and the quick spread of the contagion through bites and people fleeing the area with zombies following them.

The announcer spoke carefully and without any emotion in her voice as she reported, "Late last night a plane carrying members of parliament who were trapped on the continent was allowed to land at Gatwick Airport. Before dawn, No.10 and Buckingham Palace issued Royal Warrants for the pilots, all passengers and officials at the airport who allowed the plane to land. Her Majesty and the Prime Minister are in agreement with his declaration of martial law. The virus is in Britain."

(++**++)

Dudley enjoyed his afternoon baiting zombies. His cricket bat had knocked three zombies back and he'd tripped three kids who were running from the hungry dead corpses. He'd learned how to run after that last zombie up at No.12 chased him and he made it home, dodging around a couple of the slow-moving zombies. As he approached the front door, Da opened the door and pulled him the last foot inside while Mum held her hands over his mouth and told him again and again, "Be quiet… Be quiet…"

Dudley noticed his Da had a bloody bandage around his arm and he kept using a towel to wipe sweat from his head and neck.

"You're bit!" Dudley exclaimed as if it was a betrayal. "You got bit by a zombie."

Dudley looked at his mother and said, "He'll turn into one of 'em! Won't take any time and he'll be a zombie trying to eat us!"

"I won't hurt you or your mother, Dudley," Vernon assured his son. "I won't turn into a zombie."

"Yes, you will. Heard on BBC this afternoon over at Piers' house that everyone who gets bit turns the same day!"

"What were you doing at the Polkiss house? They're gone," his mother asked.

Dudley sneered, "Me and the guys decided we wanted their telly and computer. Power was still on so we turned on a radio at the front window and pulled all the zombies in the neighbourhood over to their house. Then we slipped out the back. It was great! Bashed in zombie heads!"

Vernon suddenly felt faint and managed to make it to his usual chair. Petunia raced to the kitchen to bring a new wet, cool flannel for her husband's head. But she found Dudley stood in her way out of the kitchen, almost as tall as his mother and much heavier. Her son said, "He's going to turn into a zombie. He's bigger than both of us and he'll eat us."

"No!" Petunia denied her son's words but the boy turned back to the lounge, holding his cricket bat ready, watching his father's unconscious form.

Petunia stood frozen as the minutes passed; Vernon ceased breathing and then his body slowly rose from the chair, a low moan issued from his throat as he stepped toward the living people.

Dudley whacked his father in the head with his cricket bat and dodged the grasping hands. Seeing her child threatened by a new freak, Petunia grabbed the heavy cast iron frying pan sitting on the stove and charged forward. Vernon had his back to her and she smashed the back of his head with the frying pan.

The zombie turned toward the one with the heavy weapon and grabbed her arm. As Petunia shrieked Vernon took a bite from her arm and Dudley smashed his stick into the cracked skull, putting the zombie on the ground.

"My arm!" Petunia cried. Dudley stood over the corpse of his father for a long minute, ignoring his mother.

"Dudley, I'm bleeding… help me!"

"Got to make sure he's not getting up again," Dudley said as he considered his different options. He'd seen the zombies feeding from corpses all day – he almost snickered imaging them eating his dad's body for a couple days.

"Mum, sit here by the door."

Dudley hurried from the house out the back door to find the wheelbarrow. He brought it through the kitchen and when his mother objected, he said, "We have to get the body out of the house. Dad's too big for me to drag…"

Desperate to save her son, Petunia helped Dudley roll Vernon into the wheelbarrow and then right the contraption. The strain of pushing Vernon's dead weight proved too much for the woman's skinny muscles.

"My back! I pulled my back!" Petunia cried with new tears running down her face. Dudley motioned his mother toward the front door.

He carefully peered between the blinds of the front door but couldn't see the front steps. Motioning for his mother to be quiet, Dudley climbed the stairs and entered his parent's bedroom. There he opened a window, removed the screen and leaned out of the window to look for zombies hiding along the side of the house. There were three of the creatures across the street at No.5 but he couldn't see or hear any others.

He hurried down the stairs and whispered, "When I tell you, open the door and I'll push Da outside."

The bleeding had slowed on her arm already and Petunia felt the fever spreading through her body. She nodded her agreement to the plan and took her place at the door. At Dudley's signal, Petunia threw the door open and Dudley pushed the wheelbarrow out onto the stoop where it continued off the single step, dumping Vernon Dursley's corpse onto the lawn. Before she understood what was happening, Dudley had grabbed Petunia's arms and pushed her out the door as well.

As she turned around, Dudley said, "Sorry Mum. You're going to turn too… Run off and lead them away from the house…"

The door slammed behind her as Petunia tripped over her dead husband; lying on the green grass of her front yard, all she could do was cry as spasms of pain from her back kept her from standing. Petunia tried to crawl away but the three zombies from No.5 found her.

(++**++)

HEADING: Dudley Alone

For the next week, Dudley Dursley watched telly, ate what food he could find in the cupboards – on the fifth day, he ate raw macaroni with water; the meal wasn't very tasty but he ate the entire box. The power went out just after 1:00PM and the house was silent but for the moans of zombies gathered in the front yard.

During that week of noise from No.4, Dudley's telly attracted all the zombies to his house and allowed the survivors from No.2, No.3, and No.10 to slip away unnoticed. The government set up collection points that were announced on the radio and telly by the BBC. Dudley hadn't listened to the news broadcasts.

Two days later, Dudley's hunger got the better of him and he ventured outside, making it to No.5 where he found stale bread and bottled juice that filled him up. Sated for the moment, he glanced out the windows and planned his trip back across the street to No.4 – he spied the zombies who once were his parents. Vernon was missing most of his face and belly. Petunia was missing an arm and an eye.

As he dashed across the street, he flipped around the adult zombies but failed to consider the small ones – the kids he'd tripped the other day in the path of zombies. The little ones were faster than the grownups and one managed to latch onto Dudley's leg for a moment, throwing off his stride.

"Get off! Get off!" Dudley screamed feeling the girl's attempts to bite him through his heavy pants. He reached down and grabbed the zombie's little arms and threw her away. He ran the final steps to his house but there were too many behind him to get the door closed.

Dudley ran up the stairs and pushed a chest of drawers down the stairs, blocking the staircase and keeping the zombies on the ground floor. He was trapped on the second floor with water from the taps but no food. Then the water stopped the next day.

For three days Dudley sat on the top step and watched the zombies move around the lounge and then wander out of the house. But every time he attempted to descend the stairs to close the front door, the noise brought at least two zombies back into the house, moaning and summoning more of the creatures.

One morning, Dudley saw a light appear on top of the table beside the sofa – a letter appeared from out of nowhere.

'_Harry? Magic?'_ the dehydrated boy wondered. None of the zombies were in the house so he kicked the dresser down the stairs to block the door. He grabbed the letter and ripped it open.

A container of milk and a package of biscuits, and a pair of apples fell from the envelope and the boy dropped the letter to open the milk and drink the container dry. Then he ate the biscuits while he ignored the sounds of the zombies gathering outside the blocked doorway.

Finally, he picked up the letter and read it.

(++**++)

**Dudley – my magic tells me that you're still alive but at No.4 Privet Drive. Keep the doors closed and don't make any noise. Here's some milk, biscuits, and fruit. That's all I can send this week. You have to sign this letter so that magic knows you're alive. Make sure to not make noise. These zombies can hear really long distances. They aren't fooled by invisibility spells either. **

**Sign the letter and put it into the envelope. I'll get it when the envelope returns. Expect another package in a week. We're still trying to find out who is alive and where they're hiding.**

**Stay safe and stay alive. Harry**

(++**++)

Outraged, Dudley roared, "A week? How am I supposed to survive a week without any more food than this? I'm going to kill that freak when I get my hands on him!"

Dudley picked up one of the apples and threw it toward the door. It flew through the opening above the dresser and caught the attention of some of the zombies – the ones who had been children in the neighbourhood.

They scrambled up the torn clothing and rotting limbs of the grownups who gathered at the door but were blocked by the furniture in the doorway. They smelled the living boy inside and climbed through the opening above the dresser.

Dudley reached for a weapon as four little zombies climbed into the lounge at No.4 but all he found was a chair. He managed to knock the first zombie kid back but the other three carried him to the ground and began to bite and tear as Dudley screamed. The letter fell to the floor from Dudley's hands and was quickly drenched in blood.

Not signed, the letter and envelope vanished a short time later.

(++**++)

At Hogwarts, Harry Potter sighed when the letter and envelope appeared with blood and no signature. Without any tears, he added the names of his relatives to the list of the dead.

After classes, Harry worked with Susan Bones and others to send more enchanted letters with some food to pureblood, half-blood, and muggleborn students who were stranded and could not get to the school. No one at Hogwarts was hungry but no one gorged themselves either.

'_I wonder how Ron's getting along?' _Harry wondered once. He glanced over at Percy and the twins – they'd come to Hogwarts early and were safe here before the ban on travel was implemented by the ministry.

The Weasleys hadn't heard from their parents or from Charlie in the last seven days. Bill was safe at Hogwarts but the last news from Rumania was that the dragons were indiscriminately burning anything that moved on two legs.

(++**++)


	7. Chapter 7

Part 7: The Solution

This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.

(++**++)

How did mankind survive the zombie apocalypse? Zombies are swarming over the world! And they don't rot! How can wizards and muggles survive? Warlock Hagrid must use his knowledge of magical and mundane creatures to find a solution.

(++**++)

HEADING: Hagrid's Project

From the walls of Hogwarts, Hagrid and the other adults watched zombies stumbling around Hogsmeade. When the creatures appeared in the village on 4 September, Alastor Moody hid every broomstick he could find. While Hagrid hated to agree to the ban on flying over the village, the headmaster understood why no one could attempt to help the villagers. Three families had moved to the castle from the village before the end of August but many more ignored the warnings.

"Eventually, the zombies will wander away from Hogsmeade if the people stay quiet," Remus explained with a frown.

"Is that bad?" asked Freddie Swenson.

"They'll smell us… or hear us… and come to stand in front of the hedge," the DADA professor explained.

"Will the hedge keep them out?" asked Poppy from the back of the group of adults watching the creatures who'd once been living people.

"The hedge is safe." Alastor explained, "I used every spell in the Auror's handbook and couldn't even set a single leaf on fire, let alone advance one millimetre through the branches. We're safe in Hogwarts."

Later, when the adults weren't watching them, some of the boys climbed the stairs to the wall to see the zombies. Neville and Harry stayed the longest and when Sirius found them there, they had many questions that the godfather attempted to answer.

"So, what do zombies want?" asked his godson.

"I don't think they 'want' anything, Harry. They're dead so it's just animal instinct that drives them to kill and eat. Remus watched them carefully and he thinks they're blind but they can hear. He's not decided if they can smell us or not."

"I saw him watching the zombies through the binoculars and making notes on some paper," Neville said.

"He wouldn't let us look at what he wrote and he wouldn't let me use the binoculars," Harry reported.

Sirius nodded, "This isn't like in a book or on the telly. Those are real people being killed."

"And there's nothing we can do about it," Neville said.

Sirius nodded but then argued, "We did tell everyone it was coming and offered them a place to be safe."

Neither boy ate much supper that evening though they weren't allowed to waste any food.

)(**&&**)(

After supper, Hagrid held a class on magical creatures for the third-year students from every house with many parents joining for the lecture and demonstration for the care of Nifflers. Younger brothers and sisters sat in the class as three of the little fellows crawled over everyone and stole coins, bracelets and earrings.

Hagrid returned all the bright and shiny items at the end of the class by turning the nifflers upside down and shaking out their treasures. Seeing the sad look in the eyes of each of the creatures, Harry hurried to his room and returned with a galleon as a gift for each niffler.

"As Harry can attest, do not ever feed a niffler a lot of carrots; if you do, you'll have four nifflers on your hands before morning!"

"Headmaster, if the zombies aren't going away, is there some animal that could eat them?" asked Theo Nott.

The headmaster sat on his chair after looking through his books of British magical animals, he answered the question saying, "There's only crows in Britain to eat carrion. They're not big enough to make a difference with millions…"

"What's carrion?" asked the youngest Creevey boy.

"Dead and rotting things… Like roadkill," Colin explained to his younger brother. The muggle boys had to explain the concept of 'road kill' to the magical children but the adults in the room were encouraged at the exchange of information without feeling one culture was better than the other.

"It's a shame we don't have vultures here in Britain," Sirius remarked motioning toward Augusta Longbottom's giant hat. She'd worn it when she and Neville came to the castle late on the 24 August with his comatose parents and most of the healers who'd come to the Longbottom home. She wore the hat to dinner every night for good luck.

"Now that was a magical creature!" Hagrid explained. "The Nazgul vulture lived in Africa and they were a favourite food of Nundus. To survive the Nundus, the vulture hatched and matured in a single day. The parents made certain to leave a carcass of some kind in the nest for the chick to eat while they flew around to distract any Nundu in the area. By the end of the day, the Nazgul chick flew away to begin the search for more food."

Remus sighed and said, "Even if we had vultures here, there'll be millions of corpses to eat. They could start tomorrow and still be eating a hundred years from now."

"It's a shame that vultures can't explode into four new vultures like Nifflers then!" Harry said crossly. For some reason, that comment by the Boy-Who-Lived stayed with the headmaster.

"Okay, kids," Mrs Greengrass said, "Everyone head toward the dorms or your parents' apartment. Brush your teeth and get to bed before 10:00!"

"Yes, Mrs Greengrass," chorused the children and Sirius as they made their way out of the Great Hall.

+)(**)(+

After a few minutes, Hagrid called Gertie to his side. They whispered for a time before the elf shook her head and pointed toward the sleeping Founders. When Hagrid argued with his elf, she crossed her arms and scowled at the headmaster.

"Gertie nots bring those books to Hagrid Stupid Half-Giant. Crusty buries those books in… secret place not even other elves know."

"But I need…"

"Not-wizard talks with Stupid Salazar or Gerties tells head elf!"

Then Gertie threatened Hagrid, "If Gertie tells Crusty, this makes Crusty mad and he makes Not-wizard wear tight underclothes for a month to push brains back up to top!"

"But…"

"Talks to Stupid Salazar!" demanded the elf.

"Okay, okay," Hagrid said as he moved his chair close to the portrait of the four Founders and woke them.

)(**&&**)(

As the recognized leader of the Founders, Helga Hufflepuff came forward and greeted Hagrid. After hearing the headmaster's request, her face turned sour while Rowena began throwing things at Hagrid from inside the portrait. Books, goblets, and pillows accumulated at the edge of the portrait for almost three minutes before Salazar Slytherin rose from his chair and interrupted the tirade.

"Rowena, you were the Founder who insisted that we make it compulsory for us to educate the current headmaster when he asks for knowledge," the wizard said.

The witch turned on Salazar and threatened him with her copy of Hogwarts, A History for a moment before throwing it to the floor and flopping back down in her chair without saying a word.

"Headmaster, why do you want to know about hatching a basilisk?" asked Godric from the other side of the portrait.

Hagrid cleared his throat and replied, "Well, you see, we need something to eat zombies… something to eat lots and lots of zombies really quickly."

"A basilisk won't eat zombies," Helga snipped. "It can't even kill them or petrify them – they're already dead."

"Yes, ma'am. But I don't want a basilisk," Hagrid explained. "I just want to know how Salazar hatched one. How did he get it to have the characteristics of different animals – a snake, a Medusa, and how did it grow to such a giant size."

Salazar asked, "Do you plan to write it down in a book so someone can breed more basilisks later?"

"No sir, you talk to me and I'll keep the ritual secret…" Hagrid assured the Founder. This simple statement made Salazar laugh, and the other Founders stared at their companion strangely.

"You never laugh," Helga stated.

"Why is this funny?" Rowena demanded to know. Godric remained silent to not attract attention.

"Because there is no ritual," the fourth Founder exclaimed. "Even the weakest squib can hatch a basilisk if he can get his hands on the proper ingredients and understands the process."

"Merlin's nose!" swore Helga.

"Why aren't we up to our armpits in basilisks then?" asked Hagrid.

Salazar shook his head and motioned Hagrid closer before he whispered, "Adding characteristics at the right time during incubation… it's all about timing. I believe the muggles today call it embryology."

"What does that mean?" asked Rowena, but Salazar remained silent, just watching Hagrid think.

Hagrid went back to his chair and slowly began nodding before he took out a piece of parchment and wrote up a schedule for the incubation of chicken eggs – twenty-one days and he made note of the different stages of development of the bird during the three week period; he'd studied gestation and embryology of many animals and birds in his private studies over the last fifty years.

Gertie brought him a giant mug of tea but otherwise remained silent. In the portrait, three of the Founders returned to their chairs and fell asleep once more. After about an hour, Hagrid approached the portrait of Salazar Slytherin again and they talked in quiet tones regarding how the Founder 'hatched' his giant basilisk a thousand years before.

"And ye added the Medusa finger nails on the seventh day?"

"Yes, the primary magical factor was added that day. I added a dragon scale on the second day to get the basilisk to grow to her huge size. Snake skin was added on the fifth day," Salazar said.

Waving away the Founder's information, Hagrid said, "I need a creature that eats carrion and lots of it, grows up fast, and makes lots of little carrion eaters every day!"

Salazar shrugged. "I'm not going to be much help…"

"You've been a great help! We'll beat the zombies with vultures and nifflers!" Hagrid exclaimed suddenly standing up to his full height and raising his arms above his head. "Thank ye, Wizard Slytherin, we may save the world because of your knowledge!"

"Gertie," he called and when the elf appeared, Hagrid sent her to the library for books on vultures of Europe. There were eight different books on the birds of Britain and Europe. The largest vulture was the Griffon vulture found in the Balkans and Sardinia.

)(*&*)(

In the morning, Harry arrived in the Entrance Hall before anyone else and found a sleepy Hagrid at the table in front of the Founders. All five were involved in an acrimonious discussion about birds, breeding seasons that couldn't be forced in the fall, and the distance from Scotland to some place called Sardinia.

"I won't take the chance on an elf not making it that far!" Hagrid said vehemently. "What if he didn't have enough magic to make it back, what then?"

"Like everyone else, the elves know what we're up against," argued Salazar.

Hagrid snarled, "But we'd be worse off with one less elf!"

"Hagrid… Headmaster Hagrid, what's wrong?" Harry asked.

Welcoming the boy to the Entrance Hall, Hagrid took the time to tell Harry about his need to get some of the Griffon Vultures. Gertie popped into the hall with a glass of juice for Harry while he spent time with the headmaster.

"I want to see if those birds can help us with the zombies but their homelands are too far away for Hogwarts elves to reach. We'd have to use a lot of magic to get one elf there and we'd not know if they could get home."

"What about in the zoos here in Britain?" asked Harry.

Hagrid turned to Harry and asked, "The what?"

Harry explained about muggle zoos and Hagrid marvelled at the idea of exotic animals housed across Britain. Once everyone gathered for breakfast, the headmaster asked Madam Pence for her help and once his request was understood, she took every adult available with her to the huge Hogwarts library to search through the books for information on zoos and for information on vultures in the zoos.

Before noon, Hagrid knew that the Chester Zoo, near Liverpool had an exhibit of Griffon Vultures. A pair of strong and experienced elves were sent to explore the zoo with orders to avoid muggles and zombies. The elves reported back to Hagrid before the middle of the afternoon with news of the vultures being hungry but alive and healthy.

"How are you going to get eggs from these birds in September?" Sirius asked when he had time to consider Hagrid's plan. "Do birds lay eggs just anytime?"

Hagrid sat and thought about the question before he said, "I think chickens lay eggs most of the year and some ducks lay eggs enough for people to have 'em to eat."

"We don't eat swan eggs," Harry mentioned.

"In the spring, song birds, swans, vultures, hawks, and geese lay only as many eggs as they can incubate and feed," Hagrid explained.

"That makes sense," Sirius said.

"And that means we're back to chicken eggs," Remus said.

"Salazar, a thousand years ago…" Hagrid began to ask when the Founder jumped into an answer.

"We saw a few chicken eggs in the spring but certainly not this time of year. I hatched my basilisk in June."

"Really?" snipped Godric Gryffindor. "You sat on the egg yourself? I always heard that you used a toad…"

The children and most of the adults laughed at Godric's joke while Hagrid seemed lost in thought.

)(**&&**)(

The elves returned to the zoo in Chester to gather as many flight and down feathers as possible from the Griffon vultures. There were other zoos in Britain with different vultures in exhibits and the elves popped around the island gathering more feathers for the rest of the day.

)(**&&**)(

"Are you out of your mind?" Augusta asked the headmaster when he asked for her hat that evening.

"I need the feathers from the Nazgul to make my vultures mature in a single day," Hagrid explained. "I need a vulture that can start eating zombies the same day it hatches."

But…" the elderly witch said as her hand went to her hat for a moment. Then she glanced at the children watching and began to remove the magical pins that held the hat in place on her head.

"If my hat can help, of course you may have it Headmaster Hagrid."

"But we're still going to have to wait for spring for your clutch of vultures to make baby vultures," Sirius said. "This is not going to help us this fall."

Hagrid grinned and said, "Think about the lesson the other night with Nifflers."

Sirius noticed that Harry figured out the clue first and the boy explained, "Hagrid's going to make the vultures so they explode like the Nifflers when they've had too much to eat. Every vulture will make four new vultures every day with all the zombies out there."

"How…" Sirius asked as curiosity got the better of him.

Hagrid grinned, "I know when to add Niffler hair to the nest and I'm going to use Nifflers as the 'mother' for each egg."

Harry asked, "How can you get 'em to sit still for twenty-one days?"

"There's a charm to make the Niffler broody and happy to sit on the egg to keep it warm for twenty-one days," Hagrid explained. "You'll learn it in fifth year and it's usually on the OWL examination."

The way the headmaster answered that last question lifted everyone's spirits – the children would have the chance to complete their education.

)(**&&**)(

In a deserted but protected chamber on the ground floor, Hagrid, Harry and Gertie gathered a dozen small boxes, with lots of vulture down and feathers made into nests. A dozen fertilized chicken eggs were provided from the henhouse, and a dozen Nifflers were recruited from the Forbidden Forest.

Bending to the demands of Salazar Slytherin, Hagrid had Gertie bring a landscape picture into the room and he allowed the four Founders to leave their original portrait to spend time in the room with the Nifflers sitting on the chicken eggs.

0(**++**)0

HEADING: Feeding the First Grifflers

**(26 September 1993) **

"How are a dozen of these vultures going to save us?" asked Pomona Sprout watching the hideous feathered creatures gulping down the rotting chicken parts. Four days before the anticipated hatching date, Hagrid had the elves slaughter a dozen chickens and leave the carcasses intact until today.

Now the little vulture-like creatures were tearing apart the pieces thrown into their pen. The 'Grifflers' as Hagrid named them, certainly seemed to crave the taste of rotting flesh.

"Where'd you get the name Griffler, headmaster?" asked Remus who had plugs in his nostrils to be able to be this close to the smell.

"Harry helped me name 'em," Hagrid admitted. "They're a combination the Griffon vulture and the Nifflers; so Griffler."

Standing a good distance from the others, Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick watched Hagrid, Harry, Neville, Remus and Sirius who appeared to enjoy watching the strong, sharp beaks tear apart the flesh, feathers, and bones before gulping the offal down their growing throats.

Neville and Sirius turned green and left after the first bucket was gobbled up but Harry and Remus seemed determined to watch and learn everything with Hagrid. Xeno Lovegood promised to write the textbook on the creatures but he was unable to remain in the room as soon as the first bucket appeared with the 'supper'.

"Ye can almost see 'em growing!" Hagrid insisted as he emptied another bucket of rotting flesh into the pen – this time the contribution came from a sick pig that they'd put down but didn't eat. There was plenty of the pig left for the dozen 'little ones' as the headmaster called them.

Without looking at Pomona and keeping his eyes on the spectacle in front of them, Flitwick said, "According to Headmaster Hagrid, they will gorge and 'explode' tonight. Tomorrow morning there will be four dozen Grifflers."

Sprout didn't look convinced but Flitwick pressed ahead with his explanation. "They mature in a single day and will begin eating zombies until there are no zombies left."

The Herbology professor's eyes glazed over but Filius was determined she understand the reasoning.

"Remember the story about the nifflers exploding after eating all the carrots and each of them turned into four small nifflers?"

"Yes, but…"

"Hagrid was very particular about when he added each of the different materials to the nest with the niffler sitting on the vulture egg."

"He added hair from the nifflers first – that gave the creature the ability to split into four new creatures after eating too much food. And nifflers can get inside locked doors and houses! They'll be able to find zombies inside locked buildings."

"Then he added the feathers from the Griffin vulture – the original vulture to give them their strength and flying ability."

"Next he added the feathers from the Nazgul vulture, the ones from Augusta's hat. That vulture matured in a single day after hatching because they had to avoid Nundus in Africa."

"Finally, he added the feathers from postal owls to allow them to travel great distances in short amounts of time."

Filius grinned, an evil thing to see on the half-goblin as he said firmly, "Once they're turned lose, there'll not be a zombie left around Hogwarts, then Hogsmeade and the whole of Scotland!"

"How soon?"

"In eight days, there will almost two hundred thousand Grifflers eating zombies… they'll be in England by then because there won't be many zombies left in Scotland!"

"How can… two hundred thousand? Are you certain?"

Filius handed the parchment with the multiplication figures showing that in ten days, there would be just over three million Grifflers.

"What will they do after they eat all the zombies here in Britain?"

Hagrid moved closer and answered the question, "Vultures can smell something dead from miles away. Our Grifflers will smell the zombies across the water. With those strong wings, they'll be Ireland and France before the tenth day. Then they'll spread across Europe, Africa and Asia."

"How do we get them to America?" Sprout asked suddenly. "I bet the muggles and magicals are hard pressed in the States and Canada."

"Aeroplanes maybe?" suggested Filius. "I never did well with muggle studies."

Hagrid went in search of his muggle friends, the Creeveys, who might know where they could find someone in the British muggle government.

)++**++(

The next morning, Gertie appeared in the Great Hall in tears as she ran up to the headmaster, "They be gone! The griffon-vultures be gone. They eats all the pig and they be gone!"

Just after Gertie delivered her message, Alastor Moody ran into the room with a look of satisfaction on his face when Hagrid asked, "Alastor, would you be so kind as to take a couple Aurors with you on broomsticks and see if our Grifflers are in Hogsmeade this morning?"

"No need. The Grifflers are just outside the hedge-wall," the Auror reported. "Freddie's on guard duty and he heard them whistling as they dropped from the castle walls onto some zombies wandering around the outside of the hedge. Said it's pretty gruesome but they've already taken down a dozen zombies this morning. I think they'll be full and explode before lunch time."

"If they can explode more than once a day, that'll speed things up," Sirius said.

Hagrid nodded and added, "It'll depend on the amount of… the number of zombies available. When there's lots of zombies, the Grifflers will feed and multiple constantly. When there are fewer zombies, they'll not multiple."

"What happens when all the zombies are gone?"

Hagrid replied, "That's an excellent question. Like all magical creatures, the Grifflers depend on magic. There's magic in each zombie… once they're gone, I think the Grifflers will go too… Like the Siberian Mammoth… They lost their magic and faded away thousands of years ago."

The children grew excited and noticed the adults were just as excited but no one was allowed to leave the Great Hall and watch the Grifflers eating zombies.

Augusta Longbottom said, "And there'll be no one going to see it while their stomach is full!"

)++**++(

Griffler Numbers (based on gorging and exploding at least once each day).

Day 1 (Sept 27) 12 Grifflers

Day 2 (Sept 28) 48 Grifflers

Day 3 (Sept 29) 192 Grifflers

Day 4 (Sept 30) 768 Grifflers

Day 5 (Oct 01) 3,072 Grifflers

Day 6 (Oct 02) 12,288 Grifflers

Day 7 (Oct 03) 49,152 Grifflers

Day 8 (Oct 04) 196,608 Grifflers

Day 9 (Oct 05) 786,432 Grifflers

Day 10 (Oct 06) 3,145,728 Grifflers

Day 21 (Oct 27) Britain Free of Zombies

It took nine days but the Grifflers eliminated every zombie through the whole of Scotland. By that same day, Grifflers were already in York and flying toward Manchester and Liverpool. In England and Wales, it took another eleven days for the millions of Grifflers to eat all of the dead zombies. Even before Britain was free of zombies, Grifflers flew to Ireland. Others were attracted to the continent and flew from Dover to Calais in France and began cleansing the continent.

(++**++)

HEADING: Notable Deaths and a Couple Rescues

The following rescues and deaths occurred in the months of September and October but the events are not always presented in chronological order. During an apocalypse, the particular date of an event seems less relevant.

(++**++)

SCENE: 10 September / Bartemius Crouch

The appearance of real zombies in London was still denied by the Ministry for Magic for several days until the creatures were everywhere in the city, eating people – muggle and magical alike.

After a nasty battle – a losing battle – at the ministry, Bartemius Crouch, Sr. made it home through a floo in the atrium and once he landed on the rug in his living room, he called his house elf.

"Winky, douse the flames! Don't let anyone else into the house!" he told the anxious elf who noticed the blood on his arm but followed her master's orders without question.

He made his way to a bathroom while elf put out the fire in the grate and removed the soot and ashes from the carpet.

Crouch quickly treated the bite and decided it wasn't all that bad – surely a wizard's magic would protect him from a muggle zombie disease. After three shots of fire whiskey and a pepper up potion, Barty decided that perhaps, just perhaps, the bite would be the end of him. He waited another hour and accepted his future as the fever raged through his body and made his mind feverish.

"Winky," he called and blinked slowly when the elf appeared with a pop.

"Yes, Master Crouchs?"

"Where is Junior?"

"Bartemius Crouch Jr be in his bed sir, like always."

"Good, now Winky, you are going to go to Hogwarts and become a Hogwarts elf," Crouch told the elf as she burst into tears.

"But Winky not…" the elf tried to say as Crouch handed her a shirt that he'd retrieved from his closet earlier.

"Go and never come back to this house," Crouch ordered the elf as she tearfully popped away. He sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. When he heard a crash from the back of the house, he opened his eyes, rose painfully and made his way toward his son's room.

He pushed open the door, stepped inside and never saw his son rise from beside the bed with a knife in his hand. Junior buried the sharp bread knife in his father's lower left back, driving the blade upwards.

"Hello Daddy," Junior shouted. "Have a nice day at work?"

"Junior…"

"It's a good day to die, Daddy. And I'll be free to bring back my Dark Lord. Voldemort…"

Bartemius Crouch Jr ended his dialogue when he noticed that his father was dead – talking to a corpse wasn't fun. Searching through his father's pockets, Barty found his wand and money pouch. There wasn't as much blood as he'd expected but Barty seldom killed with a crude weapon like a knife.

"Thank you for freeing Winky," the son did tell his father's corpse. He missed the first twitch of his father's hands as the virus took control.

"You've been so distracted this week you'd let the spells weaken and only Winky's magic kept me enthralled under your commands. Freeing her, set me free."

"Now, let me find some clean robes, and I'll find out where my friends are…"

The low moan from the corpse confused Barty, who asked, "Did you not die already? Do I have to kill you again?"

When he reached down and rolled his father over, Barty was surprized by the strength of his father's arms as the zombie pulled the younger wizard down onto the floor beside him and bit deep into the son's neck. There were only a few screams before the older zombie simply fed from the corpse of a dead wizard.

Crouch father and son moaned and wandered about the inside of their home for over a month without feeding on another living being. In late October, the zombies heard a whistle outside as a flock of strange looking vultures appeared in the neighbourhood and began eating the zombies wandering the streets. It was another full day – not that zombies measured any passage of time – before Grifflers found their way inside the house and consumed the zombies.

When the Grifflers left through a back door that wasn't locked quite a tight as the owner had believed, they left a few blood-stained robes behind. Every scrap of rotting flesh and bone had been consumed.

These events rescued Winky; at first, she became a reluctant Hogwarts elf but she found she enjoyed helping to feed and care for zoo animals across Britain and for farm animals. When her work at a dairy farm was directly related to saving and feeding children around Britain, she adopted them as her 'family' and provided safe milk that helped many families survive.

(++**++)

SCENE: 9 September / Severus Snape

Hiding in a rented room over a potion shop for the last month, Severus Snape spent his time silently observing the idiots running back and forth in Diagon Alley as the news grew more fantastic with each day. Lucius Malfoy refused him refuge at Malfoy Manor and Severus made certain the last package of potion ingredients sent by delivery owl from the shop below was laced with irritants for the digestive system of anyone who consumed any potion made from them.

He recognized the ingredients for virility potions in the order – Severus hoped Lucius and Narcissa enjoyed the end results. The shop owner stopped coming to Diagon Alley after 24 August. The man apparently didn't pay the necessary bribes to obtain an exemption for his floo from the ban on all travel. Severus quickly sealed the shop's front door and all the windows – he could subsist off nutrient potions with the meagre amounts of real food, while the rest of the world fell to pieces.

His hair and eyebrows grew back slowly and his memories and potion brewing skills returned. When he'd been released from St. Mungo's in the middle of August, the staff returned all his personal belongings including the three trunks filled with potion ingredients for the coming year at Hogwarts. He bargained some for rent, others for food, and yet more for information.

From Dawlish, Severus learned that Albus Dumbledore had invoked some ritual and summoned a terrible power – accidentally of course – but the magic manifested as a terrible disease that would rival the Black Death. Venturing into Muggle London, Severus spent an afternoon at a public library and read several books and articles on the black death that swept across the world and destroyed multiple cultures.

'_And Albus had to create one with the added benefit of zombies,'_ Severus sneered in his mind. _'One hour with Dumbledore behind closed doors and him without a wand. I'd like to show him what a zombie could do to his greater good.'_

His first instinct was to return to Hogwarts for sanctuary but that damn hedge made it perfectly clear what would happen if he ever stepped close enough to grab once again. Severus shuddered and pulled his arms in close to his side for a moment.

The rejection from Lucius ended what hopes he'd had for surviving this apocalypse – they'd never been true friends but they'd valued each other's abilities to survive the Dark Lord, Dumbledore, and the Ministry's grasping hands. Letters offering his capabilities as a potion master to Nott, Parkinson, and the DMLE were never answered.

'_I should have fled to Australia years ago,'_ he muttered to himself.

There'd not been any screams from the alley in several hours now and Severus decided to venture out to the Leaky Cauldron. The proprietor kept the doors open, offering food and safety to anyone who wasn't bitten. The floo reportedly still functioned though where anyone could travel was questionable.

He hurried down the stairs to the backdoor – well warded and blocked with heavy stones as well as locked with muggle chains and wizarding locks. It took him three minutes to open the door. He then cast an invisibility spell on himself – one that would last for ten minutes. Quietly, he made his way around the shop and out the gate, pausing to look both ways in the alley. There were zombies gathered at the doors to Gringotts – they could hear the goblins inside, reportedly engaged in a civil war over who would rule the ruins of Magical Britain.

Severus Snape stepped into Diagon Alley, making his way around a few lumps in the street that once were people, and passed the few shops where silent eyes peered out, fearfully watching the dead wizards walking about. Just as he approached the doorway to the Leaky Cauldron, a zombie reached out to grasp him. He froze, expecting the creature's arms to slide passed him. But the zombie was able to grasp hold of Severus's left arm, as though the invisibility spell didn't hide him at all.

The low moan from the zombie summoned others hidden in doorways, and from the steps of Gringotts. Struggling with the zombie and knocking the creature's head back to keep the teeth away from his flesh, Severus realized his mistake – invisibility didn't help. The zombies were blind! It was noise and smell that drew them to him, drew them to him from all sides now.

Severus screamed as the zombies fed on his arms, face and neck. He was dead before they tore into his torso and his head never became a zombie – one creature chewed its way into his brain from the open neck.

(++**++)

SCENE: 24 August / Cornelius Fudge

After a tumultuous day that saw him get rid of that thorn in his side named Amelia Bones, reduce the budget for the DMLE, and put a wizard on his side in charge of the Aurors, Cornelius Fudge had signed the order that enforced the ban on all floo travel, all apparition, and all portkeys from today until sometime in October. Effective at midnight, magical households would be safe from the infection that the plague among the muggles.

He'd continued signing Ministerial Decrees that Delores kept handing him – an exception for floo travel between the Ministry and employee homes, an exception for the Floo at the Leaky Cauldron in Diagon Alley (Delores loved to have lunch there practically every day), and special portkey licenses for key persons such as Lucius Malfoy.

Cornelius smiled – Lucius was pleased with the dismissal of Amelia Bones and the removal of most of the difficult Aurors. He'd not been as pleased with the travel ban – Malfoy's businesses were shut down for the next… forty-something days.

'_Well, Lucius has enough money already…'_

Sitting alone in his office after the small celebration in another office, Cornelius was surprized when his door opened and Narcissa Malfoy, wife of Lucius Malfoy, slipped into his office. Her robes, hair and makeup were perfect as always.

There'd always been a coldness to her eyes though that kept Cornelius at a distance. The witch was powerful in many ways and her husband was incredibly protective of her and their son.

"Good evening, Mrs Malfoy. Do they need me to return?"

"I believe they are finished with you, Minister."

Not understanding the full meaning in those words, Cornelius moved on and asked, "And what can I do for you this evening?"

Sitting in the chair her husband used during his visits, Narcissa smiled but the smile never reached her eyes, "I want to report a murder."

"Murder? Here in the ministry?"

"No, at Azkaban," Narcissa replied in a conversational tone as though she was discussing the colours in Umbridge's robes that caused more than one person to have a headache this evening.

"Azkaban? What about that damn place would you be concerned about?"

"My sister was a prisoner there and you killed her."

"Sister? Who is your sister?"

"My sister was Bellatrix Lestrange."

"The crazy witch? She can't be your sister," Cornelius cried as if denying the fact would make it go away.

"Yes, and you murdered her," replied Narcissa with a flat, cold tone in her voice.

Cornelius decided to use a tone of voice that often worked with 'wives', especially wives of strong wizards.

"Now, Mrs Malfoy, this is a matter you must leave to your husband. Wives have no business getting involved with government matters!"

For a moment, the witch remained silent and simply stared at Cornelius who was beginning to sweat.

"My sister was a devoted follower of the Dark Lord," Narcissa admitted. "But I loved her nonetheless and you signed the order that killed her. I understand the stones in Azkaban closed up all the holes, the doors and the windows. My sister was crushed by tonnes of stone and suffocated to death."

Wiping away a real tear with one hand while not smearing her makeup, Narcissa said, "My prayer is that her death was faster than yours will be this evening."

"What?" asked the surprized wizard.

(++**++)

Delores stood in the hallway leading to the minister's office, her cloak in her hand and her small bag under her arm. She'd come to say 'goodnight' and invite Cornelius to visit later if he wished (which of course he would; she never really gave him the option). But she'd seen Narcissa Malfoy, beautiful, slender Narcissa Malfoy with her perfect robes from Milan, slipping into Cornelius's office with no one else around.

'_Cornelius is mine! Why does Narcissa need him when she has Lucius Malfoy in her bed?'_ Delores wondered, remembering a thousand slights from pretty witches when she'd be a fat child with no friends.

Her memories distracted her so much that Delores found herself stumbling through the floo into her home and lying on the couch, crying herself to sleep for five minutes before rising and seeking her more comfortable bed.

'_I can deal with Cornelius and Mrs Malfoy, tomorrow!'_ were her final thoughts on 24 August.

(++**++)

Narcissa rose from the chair, her wand visible in her hand as she cast spells that silenced the minister and stuck him to his chair. She never approached him, never drew closer than the opposite side of the desk, as she began a long incantation; some arcane spell that slowly took settled on Cornelius as he felt an increasing weight on his chest.

"My sister and I were daughters of the Black family, Minister. We were taught that family comes first and while my sister may have forgotten that in her slavish devotion to that half-blood Dark Lord, I never forgot."

"This spell is from the family Grimoire and it will slowly crush your lungs, your ribs and your heart. It will take most of the night for you to die and in the morning, they'll find you with your ribs protruding from your back."

Smiling now as she moved toward the door, Narcissa turned back and smiled once more, this time the smile did reach her eyes and Cornelius shivered in the evil happiness he saw there. Whispering just loud enough to be heard, Narcissa said, "This is what happens to the wizard who kills my sister!"

(++**++)

SCENE: 11 September / Delores Umbridge

Delores couldn't believe what had happened. Death, darkness, imprisonment, and loneliness were not acceptable for a pureblood witch – yes, she was a pureblood witch and she'd make Lucius Malfoy regret every unkind word he's spoken to her just a week ago in this very office! Her office now that Cornelius was dead!

'_I'm supposed to be minister! When someone assassinated Cornelius, that made me minister!'_ she fumed_. 'Everyone pretended there were problems with 'zombies' and ignored me for a week.'_

It all began that terrible night, 24 August, the night of Cornelius's triumph with enforcing the ministry's will on the whole of Britain! For forty days no one would apparate or use portkeys or even the floo while the muggles dealt with their zombie mess. But that night, she'd seen Narcissa Malfoy go into Cornelius's office – alone – without her husband.

'_Why didn't that witch leave my wizard alone?'_ she wondered again.

Then Cordie was found dead in the office the very next day.

Once Delores recovered her spirits – two whole days she mourned Cornelius Fudge – then she'd written that letter to Narcissa Malfoy, addressing the harlot as she deserved.

When she'd returned to her new office – yes, she was Minister of Magic – after an aborted lunch in Diagon Alley where screams and rumours of zombies sent everyone fleeing, she'd found Lucius Malfoy waiting in his usual chair.

Pretending to not be surprized by his appearance in the ministry, she poured herself a small shot of brandy – not fire whiskey here at work – and took her chair behind the desk.

Lucius said nothing for a moment until Delores huffed and said, "Well? What do you want?"

"My wife received a most interesting letter this morning. Something about you calling her a 'whore' and a 'loose woman' because she was having an affair with your supposed lover, Cornelius Fudge."

"She was! They had an assignation in this very office only hours before he was murdered…" Delores raised a hand to her face in horror as she looked at Lucius Malfoy anew and said, "It was you. You killed my Cornelius because he stole your woman!"

Malfoy looked almost amused by the woman's accusation.

"My visit today is merely to warn you, Delores. I don't care about your muggle mother or your squib brother… You can service a purpose if you will mind your manners."

"Madam Minister!" the woman behind the desk insisted. "You will address me…"

The stupefy caught her off guard and the next thing she knew, Delores was transfigured into a portrait frame with a painting of a naked cupid flying about a pleasant summer scene and hung on a wall.

"Stay here a week or so," Lucius said. "If you can be reasonable, perhaps you may play 'minister' for a time. If not, there are other permanent solutions to your tendency to make wild accusations and threats."

He'd left her hanging on the wall and when he closed the door to the Minister's office, she was left in the dark with no way to tell how long she'd been there. There weren't any visitors to the minister's office except for John Dawlish one evening. The Auror was drunk and crying about the end of the world until he finally fell asleep on the sofa underneath her painting.

Today, she finally changed back into her normal self and fell from the wall, crashing through a side board that held liquor and spirits. She cast the spell for the date and found she'd been transfigured for eighteen days – Lucius was more powerful than she first thought.

For the next twenty minutes, she'd pulled glass out of her backside while tears and poorly aimed healing spells ruined the entire morning. Whiskey and brandy burned when combined with cuts and slivers of glass.

After the pain of the glass shards and burning of the alcohol in her wounds, she forgot her earlier fear of Malfoy. In a mirror she determined that these robes were ruined! Her lips thinning with the anger she felt, Delores swore, "Lucius Malfoy will regret threatening me!"

She marched out of the office but came to a sudden stop when she found the ministry deserted. Most of the 'forever lights' were out – something that was impossible to happen. And from the lower levels… or was it the upper levels, she couldn't be certain which, came low and nasty moans.

"Who's there?" she demanded, making the moans grow in volume and number.

"I'm Acting Minister Umbridge! Answer me or you'll go to… you'll be in trouble!"

But no one replied except to moan and Delores made her way toward the Atrium only to find the entrance blocked by boulders and conjured objects that she'd never be able to move or banish with her magic. And from the Atrium, she heard more of the moans and one scream as though some good wizard was suddenly bitten by… one of the evil muggle zombies!

Now determined to find some answers, Delores hurried toward the DMLE offices.

'_What's his name? Rufus Swinglender? Something… I'll just call him Rufus,'_ Delores decided as she turned the last corner before the DMLE offices.

She stopped and clamped one hand over her mouth to keep from screaming. At the end of the hall, in front of the doors to the DMLE, figures in bloody robes were banging against the door, attempting to get inside. Their low moans filled the hall and Delores turned to run.

She made some noise; something loud enough to attract the attention of the zombies that moaned and began to shuffle toward her. Without looking back, Delores ran through the halls and took refuge once again behind the door of her new office.

With the door shut, locked and a large sofa pushed in place, she was safe for the moment. She hurried to the fireplace and managed to cast the spell to start the fire after the third cast.

"DMLE Director's office!" she shouted. "Rufus are you there?"

&&%%%&&

He'd been Director since 24 August and it'd been a mess since that first afternoon. Bones was right about everything and she'd made the choice to cut and run that very day.

Rufus Scrimgeour stared at the barricaded door and at the bandage on his leg. He'd fought hard against the 'infirni' in the Atrium last night and hadn't seen the one that had been Dawlish crawl over until it bit his leg. He cast a spell to blast creature's head that left Rufus splattered with brain matter as the last of his men fell. Running away, Rufus made his way back to the department offices, barricaded the outer door and then barricaded his office door.

He sat at his desk, drank some cheap whiskey he'd lifted off a drunk in Diagon Alley several weeks ago and never poured down the drain. As he drank, he felt the fever travel up his leg and begin to take him.

The letter from Bones – he remembered the letter about the hidden drawer. Pulling it out, he read the directions and began to cast the spells to open the drawer before it was too late.

Ignoring the line of runes that would destroy Diagon Alley, Rufus immediately began pressing the runes to destroy the Ministry building underneath London.

'_I want to die before the fever makes me one of them… Five minutes, that's what the letter said. Bones was too honest to lie about something like that.'_

'_Almost there…'_ he thought as he took another drink from the bottle.

There were thirty seconds left and Rufus welcomed the coming promise of death, but suddenly the floo flared and the voice of Cornelius Fudge's toad roared through the flames, "Rufus! You must come rescue me!"

"Go to hell, witch!" he replied.

"I am Acting Minister…"

$$()()$$

Furious for the director to the DMLE to use abusive language no matter what the situation was, Delores planned to fire the man the instant she was safe in her home.

"I am Acting Minister…" she began to yell through the flames when the fire did the strangest thing – it reached out, surrounded her and in an instant of white-hot pain, Delores Umbridge was burned to ashes.

(++**++)

SCENE: 19 September / Hannah Abbot

Hannah was bored and she knew her brothers were as well. They'd played every board game fifty times and coloured every colouring book three times. She'd read all their story books, muggle and magical, aloud several times.

Her father slept during the day so he could keep watch at night and her mother walked from room to room throughout the day, scanning the yard, the surrounding homes, and the streets for signs of the zombies. Lately, Hannah heard her mother catch her breath and slowly move to the side of a window while watching something but she'd never tell her daughter what she saw.

When her father woke and Mother made 'breakfast', their only large meal of the day, Hannah knew her mother and father spoke quietly about the things her mother had seen.

Her father kept his wand in his hand at all times and drilled Hannah in how to 'fast draw' her wand from the wrist holder he'd given her to wear at all times.

"Never take it off!" he insisted.

When her brothers whined about not having 'wrist holders' or magic wands, her mother took the time that evening before sleeping to sew two small wrist holders while her father made 'wands' from a pair of chopsticks left over from Muggle takeaway before the world ended.

The excitement in her brother's faces the next morning was as if Christmas had come early. They spent the day practicing 'fast draw' and pretending to cast spells with Hannah. She caught her mother with tears on her face several times that day.

Trouble arrived in the middle of the night. Hannah was awakened by shouts from the front of the house and spell fire as a gang of wizards began to dismantle their wards and other protections. Her father and mother had drilled Hannah on what to do; cast silencing spells on her brothers and herself, hide in the hidden closet in their parent's bedroom.

With her brothers shivering and holding each other, crying with silent tears, Hannah crouched beside the peep hole. Her mother was thrown back on the bed and some filthy wizard began to…

Shutting her eyes, Hannah looked away.

"There's kids here!" one of the wizards called out and brought Hannah out of her shock. "Find 'em. They can be bait to catch zombies to practice on."

A sickly voice was sing-song calling, "Here kiddies! I got supper for you!"

"Hey, did you bash the bitch's head in?"

"Naw, she's not dead," the sick voice replied.

"You mean, she's not dead yet. Damn Flint, what did you do to this one?"

Hannah moved carefully and looked through the peep hole to see Marcus Flint, a Slytherin student from Hogwarts, standing over her mother with his wand in his hand.

Silently Hannah begged, "Help! Someone help me! Please help me!"

Suddenly, she remembered feeling safe at Hogwarts – if her family had gone to Hogwarts in August, they'd be safe now.

"Hey, that wizard we killed coming in the front door is turning. Let's bring him upstairs and watch him eat his wife!" called the sick voice.

(++**++)

At Hogwarts, Fawkes sat up and tilted her head first one way and then the other, listening to voices, to a plea no one else heard. She called out across the Great Hall where three people stood up, compelled by her voice.

His wand already slipping into his hand, Alastor Moody lifted his other hand while Harry Potter dodged his godfather's hands and grabbed hold of Moody's restored leg while Amelia Bones grabbed him around the waist. The phoenix flashed across the Great Hall, to vanish with Moody, Bones and Harry Potter in a ball of fire.

(++**++)

Marcus Flint enjoyed the apocalypse; he got to kill, rob, and rape without consequence. He'd teamed up with a couple other wizards, one a former Auror who was booted out of the ministry when he got caught stealing from muggles too often.

They'd looked for this house for two weeks – the strong notice-me-not kept them away but they'd finally mapped out the street well enough to understand 'where' another house stood. After that, it was merely a matter of time finding the corner and tearing a hole in the wards using zombies as cannon fodder.

The wizard put up a good fight and killed one of their gang before they put him down. They found a good supply of food and a healthy, shapely witch. Since it was Flint's turn to go first, he'd taken his time, biting her, cutting her, and then breaking her bones to make her scream.

(++**++)

The room was suddenly filled with a bright light as a phoenix appeared with an angry scream, something that put fear into the heart of someone who'd turned his back on being a man to be a savage, like Marcus Flint.

Marcus barely had time to blink before a cutting spell took off his head; Alastor Moody felt his two passengers roll away from him as he ran from the room, firing reductos and bone shattering curses in chains that sent two more wizards running up the stairs back down to the ground floor in a dozen pieces. He cast two more spells that bashed in the heads of two zombies stumbling around the ground floor, both were bloody from the earlier fight that left them dead.

"Potter, with me, secure the house," Moody ordered. "Bones, find the children and care for the mother."

Harry ran down the stairs and cast shields around Moody as the retired Auror cast spells that repaired the front door, restored the wards and vanished the blood. They headed for the back of the house just as the silencing spells upstairs faded and the cries of the two boys were joined by the screams of their sister.

Only the house was secured did Alastor let Harry head up the stairs. In the bloody bedroom the body of the mother lay on the bed. Someone had cast a bludgeoning spell at the head to prevent a zombie from sitting up and trying to eat anyone. There was no sign of Fawkes, Amelia or any children.

Harry noticed a photograph beside the bed, the mother and father with two little boys and a girl that he recognized – Hannah Abbot. He took the photograph to return to the girl later.

"Where'd they go?" Moody asked and then answered his own question, "Hospital wing – those kids'll need to be with healers to help them."

Staring at the head of the first wizard that Alastor had killed when they landed in the house, Harry announced, "Professor Moody, I know this wizard! I played Quidditch against him at Hogwarts last year! He's name is… was Marcus Flint."

"Stupid waste of magic," Moody swore. "Damn him and all his evil…"

"We need to get ready for when Fawkes returns," Moody said changing the subject. "Grab the kid's toys, more photos and the girl's stuff."

At Harry's confused look, Moody said, "Her hair brush and jewellery box. Grab the mother's jewellery box too. They're always important to the children later."

While Harry did gather things for Hannah and her brothers, Moody gathered all the food and potions the Abbots had stored. Looking in the hidden closet (called a safe room in muggle homes), Harry found two wrist holders with kid sized pretend wands in them. Imagining the two boys playing wizard with their sister, he added them to his pack.

Fawkes suddenly appeared with an angry Sirius Black spitting fire with his wand out and cursing Alastor Moody.

(++**++)

It took two weeks before Sirius Black would allow his godson to return to training and Moody limped from stinging hexes that Black continued to rain down on the professor who took his godson into battle. Fawkes and Amelia finally settled the tension by forcing Black to sit through a counselling session for Hannah and her brothers.

Susan and Amelia Bones, Harry Potter, and Headmaster Rubeus Hagrid sat with the three children while the healers worked with each of the Abbot children individually to relieve nightmares, and deal with some memories of that night.

There were many tears but the tears grew fewer when the boys both wanted to play 'wizards' with the wrist holders their mother made them and the 'wands' their father made.

(++**++)

"Next time, take me!" Sirius shouted at the phoenix. "Take Harry again before he's thirty and I'll stuff you into a cushion for the headmaster to sit on at dinner!"

Harry listened to the conversation – one-sided conversation between his godfather and the phoenix with some fear – Fawkes was an incredibly powerful magical animal. But Harry heard a note of acceptance in her song afterwards and he did catch his godfather petting her feathers.

(++**++)

SCENE: 8 October / Minerva McGonagall

As the zombie threat around Hogwarts disappeared down the throats of Grifflers, Hagrid and the professors focused the attention of their students on their lessons, helping with food packages for people they knew to be stranded, and once again, thinking about a future.

On 7 October, everyone who was magical felt the ministry wards fall that prevented portkeys and apparition. After informing Hagrid and gaining his permission, Professor Moody and Deputy Headmistress Amelia scheduled increased numbers of adults on watch throughout the day and night. That same day, a few refugees did appear in Hogsmeade looking for food and shelter that was provided there in the village without involving Hogwarts.

The next afternoon, during the preparations for a lecture for students in the Great Hall, Hagrid stopped walking toward the hall, turned around and headed out of the castle.

His instructions were clear as he called, "Lupin, Moody, Black, with me. Bones keep everyone else in the castle."

As he passed the 'decontamination' station with two healers on duty, Hagrid said, "Call in at least two more healers. We'll need teams of two men and two women to check some new arrivals."

In the two months they'd been resident in the castle, the adults had come to understand that Headmaster Hagrid was a warlock of few words but he meant for his directions to be followed when there wasn't time for discussion or 'what if' scenarios. Apparently, this was one of those times.

Auror Swenson was on duty along the walls above the hedge-wall where the gate to Hogwarts stood. As Hagrid and the three wizards approached the hedge-wall, the limbs separated and the opening for the gate appeared for the first time since 24 August. Hagrid led the wizards through the gateway without pausing so they hurried after him.

In the field between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, a group of individuals were approaching the gate – it appeared to be three adults, a teenager, and four children.

"Lupin, you'll be needed to talk with the three children on the left," Hagrid said.

"Hello," boomed Hagrid's voice when the group was on the castle's side of the red flag that Swenson had planted months ago.

"Help us," came a woman's voice. "Please help us."

The man beside her said, "We just left Perth; everything and everyone there is dead."

"And ye came to Hogwarts because…?"

"We went to school here. Our children will come in another few years," the wizard replied.

"Walk up slowly and you'll be allowed to enter Hogwarts," Hagrid said.

"Sanctuary!" demanded the second woman's voice.

"Ye'll be granted sanctuary if ye're not infected," Hagrid said. "Our healers will check each of ye."

Remus approached the three boys standing a little to the left of the group of five. They were terribly thin, filthy and dressed in rags. His senses kicked into high gear when he got a good smell of them – werewolves. He slowed his approach, put his wand away despite a complaint from Sirius.

"Stay back!" Remus growled at Sirius who heard the intensity of his friend's voice and instantly obeyed. Sirius lower his wand and stop advancing toward the three children as Moody and Hagrid talked to the other refugees, the couple, their two children and the woman who kept her head covered.

"Pack," Remus whispered to the boys. "You'll be safe here in my pack."

The oldest – a boy maybe thirteen years old, placed himself between the tall man who smelled like a wolf and the two younger boys.

"Greybeard and all the others are dead," the boy said. "Zombies got 'em."

"Good," Remus said. "We don't need Greybeard here. You'll be safe, get plenty of food, and go to school."

The older boy took a deep breath at the mention of school, while the two younger ones had looked around at the mention of 'food'.

"We're wolves," the older one said.

"Me too," said Remus with a smile and he transformed into his wolf form. The wolf stalked toward the boys slowly but steadily; the three children froze, seeing an alpha wolf approach them. The grey wolf circled them, nudging them gently with his nose to get a good smell, and then Remus reappeared, kneeling beside them.

"It'll all be okay," he assured them. "We'll go through the hedge and then see the healers, get you some new clothes and then supper and bed."

"Real supper?" asked one of the boys. "Real bread?"

"Real bread and milk," promised Remus.

Leading the three boys toward the castle, Remus asked Sirius, "Where'd the others go?"

"Hagrid took them through the gate and up to the decontamination room in the castle. Take your time walking up there."

"We've got to go through the hedge," Remus said. "We won't overlap with the others."

As they approached the hedge rather than the gate that was overgrown again anyway, Sirius asked, "Where did you find the other people?"

"We were in the edge of the forest, making our way to Hogwarts when they appeared in the middle of the field. One of the women called us to join them."

The teenager paused and then continued, "The three of us walked here from near Dundee. Greybeard led the pack there to hide when the dead people started eating wizards, muggles and werewolves."

"The zombies eat werewolves?" asked Sirius.

"It's terrible messy," the youngest boy said very seriously.

The teen said, "At first, the zombies just made Greybeard angry. We were in the forest for a couple weeks without much to eat. He took the grown-ups out to hunt and they came back with a whole herd of dead people following. Me and the boys climbed a tree while the wolves transformed and fought 'em. They killed hundreds of 'em, but the dead people kept coming and finally got 'em down on the ground."

"We waited two days for the dead people to wander away." The teen shrugged and added, "Then climbed down and started here."

"How did you know to come here? To Hogwarts?" asked Sirius.

"I lived in Hogsmeade before I got bit four years ago."

"Are your parents still there?" Remus asked.

The boy shook his head, "After I got bit, they threw me out. Didn't think they'd let me back in… I just wanted some food for me and the boys. Their house was broke open but we found a little bit of food and I decided we'd try the castle for more. Hoped you'd give us some, and some blankets before we went back to the house to sleep."

"We'll keep you here," Remus said. "You'll be part of my pack now."

"Other wolves?" asked one of the smaller boys, with some fear in his question.

"No, just one mangy dog," Remus said pointing at Sirius who grimaced but transformed into his large, black, grim. The dog immediately plodded over and began sniffing and then licking the two younger boys.

"It tickles!" the youngest declared, the fear gone from his voice.

When they reached the hedge, Remus reached out his hand and said, "Now this is a new friend."

"A plant?" asked the teen and Padfoot laughed as only a dog can.

"It's more than a plant, this is the hedge-wall that protects Hogwarts from the zombies. Because we're werewolves, we have to walk through the hedge our first time going through."

"Will it hurt?" asked the middle boy.

Sirius had changed back by now and said, "Not if you listen and do what the hedge tells you to do."

"Will you go with us?"

Sirius grinned and said, "I'll carry you; Remus will carry… What're your names anyway?"

The youngest boy replied, "My name is Frank."

Then he pointed at the middle kid and said, "He's Mike."

The teen said, "I'm Tony."

"Well, Tony, you take my hand," Remus said as he lifted Mike with his other arm.

"And Frank's with me," said Sirius as a green door made of limbs opened and a warm light appeared within a green room. The two wizards led the three young werewolves inside.

(++**++)

SCENE: De-contamination

"And then the hedge farted," Frank told his new friend, Harry.

"The hedge did what?" asked Harry, with a grin on his face.

"It farted!" the little boy confirmed with a smile as if he were telling the funniest joke in the world.

Mike, the middle boy, explained, "Remus said that the hedge got rid of the bad part of being a wolf and had to explain…"

"Expel," Remus corrected the middle boy while helping Frank get dressed in clean jeans and a jumper. Sirius stood nearby with socks and trainers for the two youngest boys.

"Yeah, 'expel' the bad parts but it sounded just like a giant fart."

"And it smelled like a giant fart, too!" insisted Sirius holding his nose and waving his other hand which proved hard to do with the trainers and socks he also held.

"So, the hedge got rid of the bad parts of being a werewolf?" Harry continued.

Now Frank nodded. "And when we grow up, Professor Siriuses will teached us how to change into a wolf like Professor Remus can do."

"That's great!" Harry said with a nod. "And Tony, when will you…"

"Tony can start in a year, probably about the same time you do Harry," Sirius said. "We have to a lot of transfiguration theory and exercises to get through first."

"Will you be a wolf too, Harry?" asked Mike.

"I won't know until I get closer to changing."

"I'll be a wolf," said Frank. "Like the pack."

Remus and Sirius smiled at all the boys before Harry asked, "Is Tony going to be in third year classes with me?"

Yes," Remus replied. "Headmaster Hagrid said we'll help him with revision to catch up with theory and spells."

"When you get sorted, we'll have a party to celebrate!"

Sirius asked, "And you don't care about which house he gets sorted into?"

Harry grinned and said, "We've decided that houses don't matter anymore. We want all our classes together every day and the only thing we're going to use 'houses' for is to determine who is your faculty sponsor."

Once the three new students were dressed in new, clean clothes, Harry led the boys toward the Great Hall. Remus glanced between the reports and the boys before Sirius pushed him toward the hall.

"Go be their alpha and reassure them," Sirius said. Then he sighed dramatically and added, "The wonderful Padfoot will make his way through the reports on his own…"

Snorting, Remus vanished quickly following the boys to where the lights and smells of dinner drew others. Sirius read through the reports from the healers; the couple were graduates from Hogwarts and both of their children were in the book to attend in the future. Half-bloods on both sides, he had worked for the muggle government in conservation and she worked as a school teacher in Scotland before the plague.

"Both with valuable skills we need," Sirius mused.

Then he opened the report on the lone woman who'd come with them into the castle.

(++**++)

Seated in the Great Hall for dinner, Hannah Abbot fidgeted and worried about her brothers.

Susan slipped an arm around her friend's shoulders and said, "They're fine. Luna is with them playing games and telling stories."

"What if they get scared?"

"Poppy is with them and she'll hold 'em just like always until you get back… until we get back."

"Susie, I don't know how I'd make it…" Hannah started to say before Susan wrapped her arm around her best friend.

"We've always been sisters," Susan replied. "So, I can help take care of my brothers too."

Nodding her head, Hannah blocked away the worst memories and turned back to the present. They were safe in Hogwarts; her brothers were safe… she was safe. Auror Moody, Aunt Amelia and Harry Potter had saved them! They killed the wizards who killed her Mum and Dad! Fawkes the phoenix who guarded the school heard her and came for them!

They were safe.

With Susan's arm around her, Hannah turned back to the meal that had appeared on the table and to Harry who was introducing three new friends to everyone – Tony, Mike and Frank were kids that just arrived this afternoon. Professor Lupin sat with them rather than with any of the adults.

"Not too much, Frank. Eat all that slowly and then you can have more," Remus said placing a chicken leg on the boy's plate.

"And Mike gets one too?"

Harry poured small mugs of milk for the two little boys while the older one brushed away tears as he ate a piece of soft bread. Hannah began helping and added, "And there'll be biscuits for dessert."

(++**++)

For some reason, Hannah looked up from the table as one of the new women walked between the old Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables. Hannah was seated at the old Hufflepuff table but could see the hooded figure stepping carefully to not bump anyone and draw attention. Her face was covered but her hands were visible and there was a ring on her right hand. A ring with a large M in gold on a black background.

Suddenly, Hannah remembered a day from summer… her Mum and Dad talking to Professor McGonagall at their house… about not coming to Hogwarts… a woman's voice saying, "It's not safe at Hogwarts…" and the gold ring on McGonagall's finger.

'_How can she be here? Mum and Dad didn't… wouldn't come because she said it wasn't safe…_' Hannah wondered.

(++**++)

"She's having a flashback, Susan," Remus told the girl trying to get Hannah's attention. "Boys, move over to the other table quietly."

From his place on the other side of Susan Bones, Cedric Diggory helped the three new boys move their plates and mugs to the Gryffindor table so they could continue to eat. Harry moved to the other side of Hannah while Remus sent his Patronus to summon a healer.

"No!" exclaimed Hannah as she stood up from her seat and climbed up on the table.

Again, Hannah declared, "You don't get to be here!"

She walked across the table, stepped down onto the bench vacated by Harry moments earlier and then across to a space at the Ravenclaw table before stepping up on the table and continuing forward.

"You don't get to be here!" Hannah declared again as she tracked the woman who like everyone else in the Great Hall had stopped what they were doing to follow the girl climbing over the tables. But now, Susan Bones and Harry Potter were following Hannah across the tables, plates and food flying in different directions as people tried to move out of the way.

From his place at the end of the hall, Headmaster Hagrid rose, concerned for the cause of Miss Abbot's distress more than for her behaviour. Professor Sprout was moving as quickly as possible between the tables to reach Hannah and professor Flitwick moved from the other direction.

From the doorway, an angry Sirius Black stormed into the Great Hall while Professor Moody sat very still, hopeful that he was not the object of Black's ire this time.

(++**++)

Standing before the woman with her hood still up, from above her on the Ravenclaw table, Hannah declared, "You killed them! You killed my Mum and Dad!"

Then Hannah leapt upon the woman, knocking her back against the Slytherin table. In a rage, Hannah grabbed the woman's shoulders and began to bang her head against the Slytherin table.

"You don't get to be here! You killed them!" she screamed as Professor Sprout, Hannah and Harry all reached them at the same time. "You don't get to be here!"

Struggling against the arms of friends trying to stop her, Hannah screamed again, "No! She's the reason Mum and Dad are dead! I'll kill her and feed her to a zombie!"

With a wail, Hannah cried, "They were going to feed my Mum to a zombie!"

Sirius arrived and cast a sleep spell on Hannah that allowed Susan and Harry to sit her on the bench at the Ravenclaw table while Pomona turned to the woman that Hannah attacked. The hood fell back to reveal the face of Minerva McGonagall.

(++**++)

SCENE: Sanctuary

"I claim sanctuary," McGonagall declared. "Hagrid offered everyone sanctuary at the gate."

"Who did?" demanded Sprout of her former co-worker. "Who offered everyone sanctuary?"

"With a sour expression, Minerva said, "Rubeus Hagrid offered me and everyone I travelled with sanctuary."

"And what authority gives Rubeus Hagrid the right to offer you or anyone else sanctuary in Hogwarts?" Sprout again demanded, her wand pressed against McGonagall's breast with a red reducto spell ready to fire.

"He's the headmaster, damn you!"

Sprout sneered. "You declare he is Headmaster? Headmaster of what?

"Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft," McGonagall spit. "And his offer of sanctuary can't be revoked for me unless you throw out the others."

Remus gathered the three former werewolf cubs together and whispered, "You won't have to leave. I won't let them push you out."

The couple with the two children shouted out, "No! She just appeared in Dundee as we were leaving. She apparated near us but not with us!"

McGonagall shook her head, "It don't make any difference. The 'headmaster' offered us sanctuary together so long as we didn't have the virus."

"You'll never be welcome here," Sirius said. "Leave!"

"It's too dangerous out there."

"The zombies are just about gone in Scotland," Sirius argued.

"But there's still wild men and food is going to be scarce. You don't have wild men here and you have plenty of food." McGonagall wouldn't look at anyone when she added, "Besides, once things settle down, the government will return and Hagrid will be sent back to his shack."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Filius swore. "Woman, Rubeus Hagrid is the only reason the world is going to survive! He's the warlock who created the Grifflers – the vultures that are eating all the zombies. He'll be the head of any magical government that forms after this is over."

"What? He bred some creature!" she asked and turned toward Hagrid.

She shook a finger at the headmaster and blasted him saying, "Merlin, you've violated the laws left and right and think you can get away with it!"

"No, that's not Merlin. His name is Hagrid but I think he puts Merlin in the shade. But what do I know?" asked Sirius.

"Sirius Black! Your headmaster stomped all over the prohibition against breeding new magical creatures and the Statute of Secrecy!" McGonagall swore. "The ICW will lock everyone in this castle away and obliviate the world!"

A girl's voice spoke up and said, "I don't care. You don't get to be here!"

Hannah was awake again, and she stood up, again standing over the seated McGonagall. "You're the reason my parents are dead."

"No, I didn't kill your parents, if they're dead," McGonagall said. "How do you know they're dead?"

Hagrid banged his staff against the floor and everyone fell silent. He seemed to be listening to Hogwarts for a minute before he said, "Hogwarts wants to hear the reasons why we should deny sanctuary to this witch."

"Hogwarts? How can a castle judge me?" Minerva demanded. "How can you let a child's words condemn me to the hell outside these walls?"

"What if it's a lot of kids who say you don't belong here?" asked Harry.

"Mr Potter, be quiet!" McGonagall demanded but Harry shook his head and turned toward Hagrid before he pointed at McGonagall.

Then Harry announced, "Headmaster, I agree with Hannah, this witch doesn't get to be here!"

(++**++)

It took a few minutes to arrange for a large picture frame to be moved into the Great Hall but once it was in place, the four Founders stepped into the frame and everyone bowed (except for McGonagall) to them.

Hagrid formally explained the situation and asked for their judgement.

"Tis a terrible thing to deny sanctuary," Godric announced when he heard that the witch was from his house in the school. "But we'll hear these children and their complaints against the witch."

"Minerva McGonagall, come forth!" demanded Godric Gryffindor. As McGonagall slowly moved toward the portrait, Fawkes flamed into the room with the sorting hat that she threw into the portrait. Inside the painting, Godric caught the hat that began laughing at the look of surprize on the faces of the other Founders and adults in the room.

From the image of the sorting hat, Godric drew forth his sword and said, "I am Godric Gryffindor and I shall judge if this witch, named as Minerva McGonagall, from my house, if she be fit to be given sanctuary here in Hogwarts."

Fawkes sat on the edge of the picture frame and whistled a single, sad note that left no one comforted.

Not waiting for anyone else to say anything, Hannah stood and declared, "My name is Hannah Abbot. This woman… this witch is the reason my parents are dead."

"How did she bring this about?" asked Godric.

Taking a deep breath, Hannah said, "Back in summer, we were talking at home about coming here to Hogwarts. The letter came early and invited my whole family to come here. The stories from the muggle papers said a plague was coming."

"But McGonagall visited us one day while Dad was at work and then she came back that same night to talk to both Dad and Mum. She talked about how Hogwarts wasn't safe, that Hagrid was crazy and not a real headmaster. She said we'd be safer to stay in our home."

Hannah turned to McGonagall and said, "But that was a lie and you know it because you've come here asking for sanctuary."

"A gang of wizards broke into our home. They killed my Dad and then… then they… my Mum…"

She took another deep breath, "I saw them… I heard them saying there were children in the house and they planned to catch us. I heard 'em saying they'd use us as bait to catch zombies. My little brothers were going to be bait!"

With tears streaming down her face, Hannah said, "You killed my Mum and Dad!"

(++**++)

"Do we have another child who will speak against this woman?" asked Godric Gryffindor from the picture frame.

"I will speak against giving her sanctuary," said Cedric Diggory standing up. "My parents didn't listen to McGonagall's complaints against Hagrid but Cho Chang's parents believed every word of it. They wouldn't come to Hogwarts and they kept Cho and her little brother at home. Her brother's name has been marked through in the attendance book; that means he's dead. The owls won't take any letters to Cho so I think the whole family is gone."

"We'll speak against her and we don't think that this witch should be allowed to stay here," Percy Weasley said, standing at a table with Penny on one side and the twins on the other.

Fred nodded while George explained, "We tried to get Mum and Dad to come to Hogwarts and our brother Bill argued too. I thought we'd made progress and they'd come with us on the early Express. But the night before the trip, she came to the Burrow and spent an hour with Mum and Dad, telling them about Hagrid not being smart enough to protect the castle and the kids."

"She told 'em that we'd run wild without supervision because she wasn't here," Fred said.

"And our brother Ron didn't come with us when the left to come to Hogwarts anyway. Bill said that Mum sat and cried but wouldn't come to school because she said it wasn't going to be safe."

Harry Potter stood up again and said, "I don't think this witch should be here. She's the reason why my friend Hermione Granger and her parents wouldn't come. She convinced them that Hagrid was stupid, Remus – Professor Lupin was dangerous and Professor Black was a murderer."

Now the boy-who-lived frowned as he levelled a dark look at his former head-of-house, "And she told Hermione that she couldn't use any magic to defend her home and family. She told her that the Statue of Secrecy meant the Grangers would be without magical protection from zombies and the 'evil men' she's mention. She didn't want Hermione using charms to hide their house or give them clean water or anything like that."

Next, Pomona Sprout stood and said, "I say she can't be here. When I visited the Smiths… Zach Smith's parents, they told me that McGonagall had been there and told them that everything in the Daily Prophet was true! That Hagrid was…"

"She went to every student from every house and did her best to convince them to not come to Hogwarts. We have only half of the older students here and I lay part of the fault at this witch's feet that many of those children are not here."

The herbology professor took a deep breath and paused for a moment. Then she looked directly at Minerva and said, "You killed these children and their families as sure as you set fire to their homes like a Death Eater. In fact, it would have been kinder if you slit their throats rather than leaving them to be eaten alive."

(++**++)

SCENE: Duel to Death

Now Professor Flitwick stepped forward and said, "Minerva McGonagall, I challenge you to a death duel!"

Dismissing him with a wave of her hand, McGonagall said, "No, you're a half breed and I don't have to accept such a challenge from a creature who is less than a man!"

McGonagall knew the charms professor would make mincemeat of her in less than a minute so she used the insult to reject his challenge.

"And what about me?" asked Pomona Sprout. "Can you create a reason why you're not willing to face me?"

McGonagall's face betrayed her feeling of triumph – she could take Sprout in a duel with one hand strapped to her side.

"I accept," Minerva said.

Hagrid summoned the elves to clear away the supper and then remove the tables and most of the chairs. The muggle parents took most of the younger children away toward the classrooms were the interrupted supper would be continued. The wizards and witches, and all the students from Harry's class and older stayed.

Minerva took a deep breath and glanced about the Great Hall, the children were united behind Hagrid and he had a strong group of professors, food, magic… It would take her ten years to work her way back into a position of authority here.

Seeing Pomona step forward, Minerva noticed that the woman was focused on the task ahead of her and not overly nervous.

'_Only a fool wouldn't be nervous to face a death duel,'_ McGonagall thought.

The two witches faced off and Filius announced, "Begin."

Sprout's shield took Minerva's first barrage of piercing and bone breaking spells without a hint of denting, and then Pomona put the skills learned from Alastor Moody to use. She dodged her opponents spells with the same skill she used to dodge around dummy zombies in the training room and returned offensive spells equal to McGonagall's best.

Then Pomona threw increasingly powerful bludgeoning spells that shattered McGonagall's shield, and she actually caught a transfiguration spell on the tip of her wand before throwing the spell back at McGonagall. The other witch fell to the floor to avoid being transfigured into a lump of coal. As she fell, McGonagall began the transformation into her cat form – she'd dodge Pomona's spells to run close, transform back and finish her opponent off with a reducto directly in her face.

But Sprout expected this move and immediate cast the spell to call Minerva's wand to her, followed with a petrification spell that arrived at the same moment as the 'cat' appeared on the floor. With McGonagall's wand in her hand, and a petrified cat at the other end of the duelling field, Pomona had won.

The audience waited silently to see what would happen. Filius stepped forward and announced, "With the animagus transformation, McGonagall is unable to proper communicate her surrender. Sprout has the option of killing her now or allowing her to change back and accepting her surrender before she's banished from Hogwarts, never to return."

First Sprout placed McGonagall's wand in a pocket and then with her own wand, cast a sticking spell on the cat. Once the cat and Minerva were not going to rise from the floor until Sprout allowed, the herbology professor removed the stupefy and followed that with the spell that forced an animagus back into its human form. McGonagall screamed from the pain of the forced transformation but no one offered her any relief.

"You've won, kill me," she hissed.

"I don't want to kill you," Pomona replied. "I just want you gone."

"No! Either you kill me or give me back my wand and we continue until I kill you!"

Professor Sprout seemed to weigh her options before reaching into her pocket and pulling out McGonagall's wand. Pomona removed the sticking spell and appeared to be considering her next move.

"Well, if you insist," Pomona said just before she threw the wand to her opponent. McGonagall leapt to her feet, grabbing her wand and planning to blast the other witch with an explosive spell.

But as McGonagall grabbed her wand from the air, her figure was jerked into a spin and she disappeared with a surprized look on her face.

"Oh dear," Pomona said with a disappointed tone. "Was that the wrong wand, Minerva?"

When the vanished witch didn't reply, Pomona shrugged and said, "Maybe she got that last wish to die granted."

Filius stepped closer and asked, "What did you do?"

Pulling McGonagall's real wand from her other pocket, Sprout explained, "Well, she wanted to die so I transfigured one of my hair pins into something that looked like her wand. But that particular pin was also a portkey the headmaster gave me for emergency use. I think I made it a portkey aimed at Diagon Alley."

Filius cleared his throat, "I told you this morning that the alley's full of zombies."

Sprout smiled and added, "That's right, you did. And since the Grifflers haven't reached London yet, I granted Minerva's wish to die. She just landed in Diagon Alley without a wand."

Filius Flitwick was speechless for a moment but then bowed before Pomona Sprout and said, "I fear you woman and that's the greatest compliment I can give anyone!"

(++**++)

SCENE: 16 October / Granger Family

Their food supplies running low, Dan and Ophelia Granger debated if they should attempt to reach one of the government shelters that the BBC had mentioned a month ago. For the last week, the radio only carried occasional updates on the situation around the kingdom. They'd seen some neighbours eaten by zombies and evidence of gangs driving by but never stopping at their house.

"The spells you cast made the difference in us not being found," Ophelia told her daughter. "Headmaster Hagrid knew what he was doing sending that information."

"I still…"

"Hermione, the world is changed," her father said. "We are lucky to still be alive and to be together."

Nodding her head, Hermione cast the notice-me-not spell on the Range Rover in the garage.

"As soon as you open the garage door, the spell on the door will be broken. I don't know how good it will be on the Rover," she told her dad.

Dan moved quickly to lift the door – it made a tremendous amount of noise in the still morning air of a zombie-occupied Crawley. He was in the driver's seat with this daughter in the passenger seat and Ophelia in back – with her wand, they thought it better for Hermione to sit up front to cast spells as needed.

The Rover cranked without any problems and moved down the drive, ignoring the few zombies in the yard, already drawn to the house by the noise. Dan ran over the first one at the bottom of the drive way as he turned onto the street.

They didn't recognize any faces, but the number of zombies increased before they reached the entrance to the neighbourhood. As Dan drove, more and more of the creatures went under the tires and he found the steering growing sluggish. Just as they reached the pillars that marked the entrance to the neighbourhood, the vehicle halted.

"They're caught underneath," Dan told his wife and daughter. "Their bodies are caught up in the wheels."

"Oh no," Ophelia whispered while Hermione desperately tried to think of any spell that would help.

In the short time they'd been stopped, more zombies gathered around the Range Rover, bitten faces and rotting hands were pressed against the glass on every side and the moans were growing louder as the zombies smelled living flesh nearby.

Tears on her cheeks, Hermione didn't know what to do. Dan was growing desperate – this had gone belly-up incredibly fast.

Then louder than the moans of the zombies they all heard a whistle, like one large bird calling to another. The noise didn't change the behaviour of the zombies but Dan kept looking out the windows and suddenly sucked in his breath.

From the north, a flock of some type of vulture descended upon their street. Zombies and giant vultures would wipe them out in another minute.

"What is it Dad?" Hermione asked, leaning forward to look out the window on her side of the Range Rover. "What is that?"

Then the vultures landed on the zombies, carrying them to the ground and tearing at the rotting flesh. The birds lifted their beaks to help direct the flesh toward their stomachs but then bent back down to tear out another chunk.

"What are they?" asked Hermione; she'd never studied birds in her exploration of knowledge.

"They're vultures, birds that eat dead things, and there're so many of them!" Ophelia exclaimed.

"They're everywhere!" Dan added, allowing a glimmer of hope to grow as moans of zombies began to die away, replaced by the apparently happy whistles of feeding vultures. The sky grew dark with the numbers vultures descending on Crawley – there were thousands of them on the street around the Range Rover with the trapped Granger family. It took several hours of feeding, and Dan saw several vultures waddling underneath the chassis to get to the corpses tangled up in his Range Rover's tires.

"Look!" Hermione said pointing toward several vultures who were obviously stuffed full of zombie flesh and bones. The vultures appeared to settle on the ground, clap their beaks a few times as they pulled in their wings and necks, the body settling on their feet, before they exploded.

"What was that?" asked Ophelia as Dan and Hermione sat back from watching out Hermione's window.

"That vulture just exploded."

"Like a bomb?" asked her mother.

"I don't think so…" Dan replied while Hermione looked through the window again and stared in disbelief.

Instead of parts of a vulture lying around, there were four balls of feathers lying there. After ten minutes, the balls of feather shook open and four small vultures hopped around, latching onto zombie parts or carcasses, and beginning to feed.

The little ones hopped underneath the Range Rover and ate from the zombie carcasses lodged underneath.

The process repeated itself around them through the entire afternoon – the large vultures ate the zombies, puffed up when stuffed, and exploded into four smaller vultures that began eating within ten minutes.

"The little vultures get bigger as soon as they start eating," Dan said.

"Where did they come from?" asked Ophelia. "It's just like magic!"

While a few of the vultures continued to pull zombie parts out from underneath the Range Rover, others would fly up to the surrounding houses, sniff around and fly on to the next house or hop to the front door or large windows but then disappear.

"Now I know it's magic!" Ophelia announced. "Those birds just go 'into' houses they want to."

"Why some houses and not others?" Dan asked.

His wife was quiet for only a moment before she replied, "Some house must have zombies trapped inside. Others don't have anyone trapped or they're still alive inside."

"Almost every house has vultures going inside," Dan said.

(++**++)

It was late afternoon when the last vulture left the Range Rover, flying off to seek more zombies. A large number of vultures were gathered at the entrance to the neighbourhood where zombies continued to gather, lured by the smell of the Granger family trapped in their vehicle.

Dan decided it was time to return home, turned over the engine, and made a U-turn in the street, running over the curb, to drive the Range Rover back toward their house. Along the way, they saw a few bundles of clothes and the occasional shoe where the vultures left few bits of evidence that a zombie had been consumed. Once again safe inside their garage with the door closed, Dan and Ophelia helped Hermione back into the house and onto a sofa.

Dan made certain to lock the garage door and retrieved his gun with all the ammunition from the vehicle before he closed, locked and blocked the door to the garage. At his wife's unasked question, he replied, "Until she's over this shock, I won't ask her to cast that not-spell again."

Hermione slept for a long time and woke up in the middle of the night, her mother coming to her side instantly.

"Where's Daddy?" she asked in a sleepy voice.

"He fell asleep over there," Ophelia motioned toward another sofa. "The neighbourhood is quiet except for the occasional whistle by one of the vultures. Apparently, they can see well enough at night to keep hunting and eating."

"I thought it was all a dream," Hermione whispered sadly. "The zombies, the vultures, magic… all a dream."

(++**++)

There was a bright light in the kitchen just before dawn. The entire family was awake and waiting for the new day – they'd begin exploring surrounding houses for any food that might have survived. Hermione's spells provided all the water they needed but they had to have food. When they stepped into their kitchen and found the package, Hermione and her mom opened it immediately.

It was a large package of food including apples, bread, a jar with milk, cooked meat, a small container with some butter and even some greens for a salad.

There was a note that Dan opened and read before handing it to his daughter to read with her mother.

(++**++)

**Hermione – your notice-me-not is too freaking powerful. Turn it down some, we couldn't find you until now. Here's a food package and we'll send more in two days if you want us to. Sign this letter and then tap it with your wand to send it back.**

**Hope you're keeping up with your lessons – Headmaster Hagrid is strick about keeping up classwork.**

**Your friend, Harry**

(++**++)

SCENE: 4 September / Parkinson, Nott and Malfoy

Lucius Malfoy, his wife and son waited on breakfast without much conversation. There were few newspapers delivered now and the Daily Prophet was good only for lining the owl cage in Lucius's office. There'd been no response to letters to distant family on the continent and Narcissa's family here in Britain was gone; her parents apparently died in an incident with these zombies on 1 September in Kent where the Black family holdings were concentrated. One sister dead in Azkaban when the minister shut it down and the other sister blasted from the family tree for marrying a muggle would be dead soon – their house in Muggle London wouldn't survive the hordes of undead.

Lucius smiled to reassure Narcissa; her cool exterior was shaken by these creatures. When news of the minister's assassination was announced, he'd been unhappy, well displeased would be the better word, when he realized she'd been the one to dispatch Cornelius Fudge. He didn't really mind that she'd eliminated the wizard because he had additional flunkies who could take over the role of Minister, but he'd been irritated that she'd been seen entering his office – and by the queen of blackmail, Delores Umbridge.

That woman's days were numbered for certain after she sent that insulting letter – 'his' wife with Fudge? More likely the Wizengamot would elect a mudblood to be Grand Warlock five times in a row than for his wife to allow…

Images appeared that had to be driven from his mind.

There was a shout from the front of the house and an elf popped in, "Master, the Parkinson family be at the door."

"Whatever can they be thinking?" Narcissa asked her husband. "It's not seven o'clock yet!"

There was a loud, persistent banging on the front door as the Malfoy family hurried from the first-floor family dining room. Draco outpaced his parents and he threw open the front door as soon as he reached it, allowing the entire Parkinson family to fall inside. Edmund grabbed the flung-open door and shut it without saying anything to Draco; the boy wanted to protest but then fell silent under Mr Parkinson's glare.

From up the stairs, Narcissa noticed that every member of the family was still dressed in their night clothes with robes and bedroom slippers, not shoes or boots. This was unusual for Bette Parkinson – the woman was a meticulous with her appearance as Narcissa.

Lucius noticed that Bette and Pansy both were in tears, the small boy was clinging to his mother, and Edmund looked wild!

"Lucius! The zombies are here in Wiltshire! The wards didn't stop them, they just pushed their way into my home!"

"How did you escape?" asked Draco.

"I kept three broomsticks on the floor where we sleep. Those things were all over the ground floor of my house! They didn't pay any attention to the wards!"

"Did you lead them here?" asked Lucius. The question made Parkinson return to the window and peer outside.

"I don't think so," the man replied.

"Good, then after breakfast, we can deal with the zom… the creatures around your manor. Your elf will have everything cleaned up before nightfall."

Before they could return up the stairs to the dining room, the floo flared with a traveller – the Malfoy manor was one of the private homes with an exemption from the travel ban. Ambrose Nott fell through the flames and collapsed on the marble floor.

For a moment, no one moved to help him and the wizard scrambled to climb to his knees and point his wand back at the floo. He cast a spell that extinguished the flames and broke all floo connections.

"Nott! That's my floo!" protested Lucius.

"You're welcome," Nott replied ignoring the complaint. Zombies… they were all over my house… ate my wife… I didn't want any to follow me here."

"Where's Theo?" asked Pansy.

Nott didn't answer as he realized the Parkinson family was present in nightclothes. He hid the small bite on his left hand and asked for coffee or tea.

"Dusty," Narcissa called. The elf appeared, bowed and waited for orders. "Bring Mr Nott a cup of coffee with cream."

"Thank you, Mrs Malfoy," the wizard replied.

(++**++)

As the three wizards exchanged stories, and the two wives helped settle each other's nerves by watching their husbands plot and plan, Draco and Pansy shared cups of tea with some toast. Pansy's little brother ate toast as well though he kept his mother in his sight at all times.

"What happened?" Draco asked.

"Just after dawn, I woke up when something crashed downstairs," Pansy explained. "I came out of my room to find my Dad yelling and firing cutting curses at infirni… uh zombies, wandering around our downstairs, knocking over furniture and falling on the slippery floors."

"Why did you leave, then?" Draco asked. "They can't climb the stairs from what the papers say."

Pansy looked at Draco as if she'd never seen him before. Her brother snuggled into her arms and she held him tightly.

"They moaned, it was like a hungry animal and they looked up… well their heads all tilted up where my Dad stood on the stair casting spells at them."

"They stinky," said the small boy.

Pansy nodded. "They were rotting and the whole house smelled horrible."

The husbands continued planning – the cutting spells didn't seem to have been effective and so they planned to use banishing spells and bludgeoning spells.

"Aim for the heads," Edmund said. That's what I did wrong this morning. I aimed for the torso but should have been aiming for the head."

"Perfectly understandable," Lucius remarked. "Zombies were inside the house!"

While Narcissa was concentrating on spells to remove the smell that appeared to linger around the Parkinson family, Bette kept her eyes on the men and noticed that Nott repeatedly squeezed his left hand as though it hurt. His wand cast a couple healing spells surreptitiously, and the mother glanced over at her two children.

(++**++)

After a small breakfast, Edmund and Bette retired to a guest room to refresh themselves. Pansy and Henry, their son, joined them and the family took stock of the situation after casting multiple privacy spells, searching for any listening charms, and spelling the heat ducts to not carry sound. Their house elf, Mason, responded to Bette's call and brought them clothes. The elf also collected the brooms from the front stoop of the Malfoy home where they'd left them.

Bette decided not to mention Nott's injury until after her husband made his decision about their course of action today.

"I don't know how well this venture against the zombies will go this morning," Edmund said. "But you and the children will be safe here."

"Not for long," his wife replied. "Narcissa won't allow us to remain – they're not as well provisioned as we are for the coming problem."

"Or she simply lied to you about the stores she laid in to feed her family."

Nodding her head to concede her husband's argument, he asked her what she proposed. Sighing the woman said, "I don't know."

"I do," chimed in Pansy. "We should fly to Hogwarts."

"Honey, that's several hundred miles and we can't make it in one day…" Bette replied and her husband seemed lost in thought.

"We can stop along the way and sleep on top of houses or other tall buildings," Pansy explained. "I've seen pictures of the muggle cities and some of them have buildings hundreds of feet high."

"And Mason can bring us food and drink along the way when we stop for the night," Bette said. "We have him put the manor into lockdown. The zombies don't seem to see him and any left inside can rot there."

"We'd be breaking the Statue of Secrecy," Bette worried.

Edmund grunted and said, "That's gone out the window with the potion cauldron. No one is going to be looking at the sky – everyone is looking over their shoulder to make certain a zombie not coming to bite them!"

"I like to fly!" declared Henry.

"Will our broomsticks carry us that far?"

(++**++)

While the Parkinson family plotted their escape, Nott nursed his aching hand, and Lucius sneered that his lovely, quiet morning was interrupted by the arrival of 'friends' and zombies. In the privacy of his office, he learned that houses of his tenants, Goyle and Crabb, were overrun with zombies. He'd sent his personal elf to silently observe the families in the houses and the elf faithfully reported that the mother and son in one family were hiding upstairs while in the other house, the entire family had perished before morning because their house only had rooms on the ground floor.

"That should keep the zombies fed this morning," Lucius muttered and wondered how to protect Narcissa and Draco. If the creatures just walked through the powerful wards…

'_Wards affecting living creatures or weapons and spells,' _he realized. _'These things are not living, not weapons wielded by another…'_

He rose to check his library for a book on adjusting the wards to exclude all things that moved.

"I need time!" he declared when he found the extensive chapters on wards and the process to adjust them.

"That's something none of us have," Nott said, surprizing Lucius with his stealth entering the study.

"Where's Parkinson?"

Nott grinned, "Excellent question! He and his family flew away from the balcony of that bedroom you loaned them. Heading north it appears."

"Flew away?" Lucius asked. "Where on earth would they be going?"

(++**++)

When it was time for lunch, Narcissa was disturbed to learn their guests had fled without proper thanks or goodbyes. Draco was quiet, watching the adults, and not asking questions.

Lucius noticed that Ambrose was not eating properly – with the feared food shortages on the horizon, Lucius hoped the elves wouldn't allow the almost full plate to go to waste. He'd speak to Narcissa about speaking to the elves.

"And they just flew away?" asked Narcissa as Nott told the story about the Parkinson departure.

"I stood at the window in the room you provided," Ambrose said. "Suddenly, Edmund, the daughter, and then Bette with the little boy in front of her flew by the window. I watched them climb and head north."

"Hogwarts," Draco announced. "They must be headed for Hogwarts. They think they'll be safe there."

"That's a long journey on broomsticks – it'll take what… three days?" asked Lucius.

"At least," Ambrose replied. "Broomsticks have to have down time to recharge the charms each day."

"And the little boy, how could he hold on that long?" asked Narcissa imagining traveling by broomstick with Draco when he was small.

"He's stuck to his mother with a charm most likely…" Lucius explained.

"And tied with some rope, no doubt," Nott added.

"No doubt," replied Narcissa.

(++**++)

Nott and Lucius took two of the Malfoy broomsticks and flew over the estate. From the air, they could see a growing number of zombies stumbling along the lanes and through fields not surrounded by stone or wooden fences.

"I had no idea muggles were this numerous in Wiltshire!" Lucius admitted.

"Even more in London," Nott said. He kept both hands on the broomstick as the fever grew stronger.

They surveyed the Parkinson house from the air and didn't bother to land. They flew over the houses where Goyle and Crabbe had lived. In all cases, zombies appeared to be wandering about but then Lucius noticed that more and more of the creatures were stumbling along in the direction of his home. He strained to listen and couldn't hear any noises from his family and worried that it was smell that drew the zombies to his home.

"Let's head back," Lucius said and turned just in time to see Nott's face transform, his eyes glazed over, his mouth yawned wide as the zombie rammed his broomstick into Lucius. It wasn't an intentional collision, just fate that directed the front of Nott's broomstick to collide with Lucius. The wizard fought the grasping hands and gnashing teeth until the ground stopped their descent. The zombie that was Ambrose Nott in life was able to get several bites from Lucius's face. The bones in both bodies were so shattered that one never moved away from the other. Lucius never turned into a zombie – his brain was so damaged by the landing, it couldn't reanimate.

(++**++)

From the third-floor balcony of his bedroom, Draco Malfoy watched the mid-air collision between the wizards and his father's fall. Draco rushed to find his mother and tell her but Narcissa refused to believe it until she withdrew a copy of the memory from his mind and viewed in a small pensieve in her husband's study.

"Mother, we need to go," Draco insisted when she withdrew from the memory. "We need to leave."

"Go?" she asked. "Leave? What do you mean? Where would we go?"

"We follow the Parkinson family to Hogwarts," Draco said.

"Draco, they'll never make it on broomsticks," his mother said. She looked around and went to the sideboard where Lucius kept his liquors. Pouring herself some brandy, she took a sip and then argued with her son, "Besides, we are purebloods and we'll never bow to a half-giant as headmaster of Hogwarts."

"You and Father bowed to the mudblood Riddle," Draco reminded his mother.

Narcissa slapped her son's face, took a bigger drink of brandy, and then held the growing teenager close, "We did what we had to do to survive. The Dark Lord was too powerful to deny at the time."

"And look at the times now!" Draco insisted. Ignoring his mother's protests, he went to his father's books and pulled out several maps.

"How much did Mr Parkinson know the muggle world?"

"What?"

"How well did Parkinson know the muggles? Their cities?"

"I have no idea," Narcissa admitted as her son pulled out a map of England and Scotland with hundreds of names on it and different coloured lines connecting the different names.

"What is this?"

"Before I started at Hogwarts, Father made me learn to read muggle maps. He wanted me to see how far away from home Hogwarts is, and how powerful magic is when it can move us hundreds of miles instantly."

"This is the map of the roads and major cities in England and Scotland that we used," Draco said. He located their home – marked with a dot of blue ink by his father and then ran his finger along the roads that would take them north.

"They'd go to Birmingham, then to York, and then cross into Scotland up to Edinburgh."

"How far is this?"

Using the key on the map, Draco measured the distances with marks on a piece of parchment. After many minutes, he said, "A hundred miles to Birmingham and then another one hundred and thirty miles to York. Edinburg is two hundred miles further north."

He consulted the map again, looking for the blue dot that indicated Hogwarts. "That's another two hundred miles."

"Over six hundred miles on a broomstick? No one can make that trip!" Narcissa declared.

"Not in one day," Draco admitted. "But, if you find a safe place to stop for the night, the broomstick's charms will recharge, and you can fly on the next day."

"No," Narcissa refused. "We're perfectly safe here…"

At just that moment, a large crash came from downstairs as zombies pushed their way into the manor trough the French doors in the lounge.

(++**++)

Pansy proved to be the best spotting things from broomstick. When the family flew into the muggle area named Birmingham after two hours in the air, she spotted the tall building that appeared to be constructed of glass. There was a large, flat roof where Edmund led his wife and daughter. Bette, Henry and Pansy immediately sat on the roof but Edmund waddled toward a nearby doorway that he locked with four different wizarding spells and then blocked with a conjured boulder.

"Get rid of the boulder!" Bette called. "It's too heavy and might fall through the roof."

Banishing the boulder, Edmund conjured up chains that he stuck on either side of the door, draping them back and forth several times.

"I tired of flying," Henry told his mother three times and she smiled and agreed whole-heartedly.

"Mason! Mason, come here!" Edmund called. It took some time for their elf to make the trip but he arrived with hot chocolate for the children and tea for the parents.

Pansy walked around the roof while her parents took turns going behind the structure with the door to relieve themselves. Henry was content to pee on a pipe that stuck up from the roof.

Standing close to the wall that marked the edge of the building Pansy was astonished to see the extent of the muggle construction. There were multiple tall buildings, roads, and scores of zombies wandering about chasing muggles who kept slipping away.

"Are you alright?" Bette asked her daughter.

"I hardly know," she replied. Then she motioned with one hand toward the city below and said, "Look at this, Mother. We live in a few small villages and think we're better than them… but look what they build!"

"Come away from the edge," Bette told her daughter. "We'll rest for at least an hour before pushing on to York."

"It's better to walk around some," Pansy told her parents. "Draco… the Quidditch team always walked or ran around for ten minutes after a match or training session."

"My legs are stiff," Edmund admitted.

(++**++)

"Mummy, look!" Henry shouted about an hour after they landed. The Parkinson family prepared to leave Birmingham when they turned to follow the little boy's hand, pointing toward a figure on a broomstick approaching them.

"Draco?" Pansy said with surprize in her voice. It was indeed Draco Malfoy who landed beside them on the rooftop.

"How? Where?"

"Greetings Edmund Parkinson, may I travel with your family for safety's sake?"

"If you offer aid, we shall give it in return," replied Edmund in an old pureblood greeting between travellers who sought safety in greater numbers.

They delayed their departure for a time to allow Draco to walk off the cramps from sitting on a broom for two hours and to tell his tale.

"Nott was bit when he came to the house," Draco explained. He changed while flying with my father, rammed into him and they both fell to the earth. Father never moved…"

"And your mother?" asked Bette.

Shaking his head, Draco admitted, "She refused to leave the manor even though zombies broke into the ground floor and filled it up."

"Did you…"

"I tried to force her, but my mother is powerful witch," Draco admitted. "She didn't harm me but she couldn't be persuaded to leave with me."

Everyone was quiet for a time and then Draco said, "And I brought something else."

Pulling four shrunken broomsticks from a pocket, he explained, "These are spares in case one of your broomsticks fails. My elf shrunk them down and with the tap of your wand, they return to normal size."

He handed a shrunken broomstick to Pansy, Bette and Edmund, returning the last one to his own pocket.

"When we get to Hogwarts, we'll charm one to fly really low to the ground for you Henry," Draco promised the young boy. "You can fly on the quidditch pitch where all the big boys fly."

"Like you?" the young boy asked.

"Like me," the young wizard replied.

(++**++)

The Parkinson family and Draco Malfoy arrived at Hogwarts on 7 September where they were welcomed by Headmaster Warlock Hagrid and offered the sanctuary of the castle on the condition that Edmund passed through the hedge wall. His dark mark was removed and the man was ill for a day but once the taint of Tom Riddle was removed, Edmund found a new lease on life. He accepted that he would remain probation for the duration of his stay in the castle. With the help of his wife, Edmund became a Grey wizard and saw his children grow up healthy and happy.

Draco sent a Hogwarts owl with a letter to his mother but the owl returned with the letter unopened and still attached to its leg. He didn't send another. His aunt, Andromeda Tonks, and cousins, Sirius Black and Harry Potter, slowly built bridges with Draco to support him as he grew up without parents.

(++**++)

SCENE: 1 October / Albus Dumbledore

Once Albus awoke in his cell after the hearing with the ICW Council, he managed to convince a jailer to provide him with clean robes and though it broke his heart, he wore the plain brown robes from then on and never wore his colourful robes again. The jailers were unwilling to break protocol and speak with their prisoner but they did provide him with newspapers from different cities around the world with translation charms cast to turn the text into English.

Since Albus was the author of their death, the ICW council wanted the wizard to remain informed on the progress of his catastrophe. As long as the papers from South America appeared in their offices, the jailers made certain the newspapers made it to the only occupied jail cell in the building. The papers from Latin America quickly dwindled as the entire continent fell to zombies in August; the last pictures from Bogota Columbia were heart-breaking.

'_The Council is pulling out all the stops to try and convince me this is real,'_ Albus decided.

For several days, the papers from Paris and Berlin were full of information on how to protect magical homes and how wizards could defend themselves from the muggle zombies. In a complete turn-about, the papers announced that wizards would turn into zombies once they were bit and the tone of the editorials turned more toward reflections on the 'end-of-world'.

Finally admitting to himself that zombies were real but still unwilling or unable to blame himself, Dumbledore was amazed at the Daily Prophet's denial of the entire affair longer than any other paper.

'_What is Cornelius attempting here? Or is it Malfoy?' _Dumbledore wandered. _'That wizard will never accept that we need the muggles… who else will grow our food and spin our cloth?'_

Then the daily paper from Britain arrived with the news that Rubeus Hagrid had assumed the role of headmaster at Hogwarts and even more incredible, his former groundskeeper was reported to be a warlock.

'_What idiocy is this? How can they think I'd believe these hippogriff droppings?'_ the former headmaster raged inside his head.

There weren't any papers delivered after 6 September, and after 20 September, the jailers didn't stop by the door at all. Food and clean clothes continued to appear each day. Taking a wooden spoon that came with his dinner, he began rubbing his hands back and forth along the wood to force some of his magic into a temporary focus for his magic.

He also saved half of each meal to eat later and after 28 September, delivery of food stopped.

On the last two days of September, Dumbledore called out occasionally but stopped once he heard screaming and then low moans at various times.

On 1 October he tried the door of his cell and found it unlocked. Rather than carrying the small amount of food he'd horded with him, Albus ate it all. Then he took the wooden spoon he'd made to act as the focus for his magic and ventured forth into the deserted headquarters of the ICW.

(++**++)

Making his way along the hallways from the cells toward the offices, Albus listened carefully and used the spoon to focus his magic and pull several doors shut, trapping the 'zombies' inside. The papers insisted the zombies couldn't open doors or climb stairs.

Rather than risking use of the elevators, Dumbledore used the enclosed stairwell that led up from the level of the jail. Careful to as silent as possible without casting a spell, Albus made his way up four flights of stairs to the main floor where the floo room lay. Cursing himself for allowing the Council to implement the 'safety protocols' to prevent port keys from working in the building, Albus peered through the small window in the doorway leading to the hallway off the floo room.

From the angle of his view, he could see three fireplaces each with flames still burning – the floo connections to Geneva, Stockholm, and St. Petersburg remained open. He froze when a zombie shuffled passed the fireplaces without paying attention to the flames but it was the only dead creature he saw.

Considering his options for a moment, he thought about his wand.

'_Damn, evidence and personal belongings are kept on the jail level too!'_

He hurried down the stair case a little faster than he had climbed without paying attention to the low moans coming from the other side of the doors on each level.

(++**++)

On the same level as his cell, Albus once again was cautious to find the office labelled 'Evidence'. Slowly opening the door, he was relieved to discover that the room held no occupants; dead or dismembered. Finding a cabinet that was easily opened with a wandless spell to open the lock, he searched for ten minutes before finding his wand – the Elder wand. For a long moment, Albus wondered what would have happened if he held all three of the Deathly Hallows at this moment.

'_If only, I'd found the ring while I had the wand and cloak!'_ he mourned. _'Then today would not have happened!'_

Casting aside the spoon, Albus lifted the wand and found it responded to his commands. There wasn't as much power at his command as before – without considering his weaker state, Albus assumed the ICW had placed some restrictions on the wand's power.

Rather than wasting time on his robes, Albus turned to the stairwell once again and made his way up the four flights of stairs again, without being as careful to be quiet this time. He was halfway up the stairs to the second floor when the door behind him on the first-floor landing crashed open from the wright of zombies pressing against it.

Dumbledore paused seeing one Council member and multiple ICW Aurors with tore skin, missing limbs and bloody robes reaching for him from the first stair. Some of the zombies fell forward onto the stairs and as they pulled themselves up, they were a step closer to the living human.

'_They'll work their way up if the ones behind them keep pushing them down,'_ he realized though one fell backwards rather than forwards the second time.

Hurrying up the stairs with the moans of the zombies filling the stairwell below him Albus didn't bother checking the doors on the other levels – zombies would be there waiting for him.

At the fourth level, with the floo room, he didn't hesitate to open the door and hurry toward the burning fireplaces.

'_There! A container with floo powder!'_ he thought triumphantly. As he stepped up to the floo, an arm stripped of the flesh grabbed Dumbledore's robes and pulled him back.

The wizard slashed the arm away with a cutting curse and didn't hesitate when he saw three more zombies shambling toward him; he cast a fire whip and cut the zombies in half while setting them on fire. Forgotten for the moment, the original zombie that'd lost one arm, latched onto the headmaster once again and this time it pulled the wizard to the floor and bit his neck.

Withering in agony from the bite, Albus failed to extricate himself from the teeth of the creature as it ate his neck. The burning upper halves of the other zombies drug themselves closer to feed upon the last wizard in the ICW.

The flames spread as all fire suppressing magics were failing. The nondescript building burned brightly the entire evening and offered a suitable pyre for the once-great Albus Dumbledore.

In the struggle with the zombies, the Elder wand was snapped and its magic, like so much other magic that summer, was returned to the world.

+**)**(**+

HEADING: Epilogue

That Halloween at Hogwarts was a sombre affair but it still offered hope to the more than four thousand witches, wizards, muggles and children safe behind her hedge-wall. Under the watchful eyes of Aurors and Grifflers, everyone turned out to help plant a hedge-wall around Hogsmeade in single day.

Tentative contact was made with survivors across Scotland and then northern England. Food packages were delivered by elves and owls while muggles found ways to bring people together in fortified towns. The few gangs that attempted to create trouble were handled by the army or Aurors working undercover.

+**)**(**+

By December 1993, the surviving British government began to organize the survivors and bring order to the towns and cities. Much of the armed services survived though there were grave losses in the first two weeks. Sailors from ships that were safely at sea were pressed into duty on land and put to use. The Queen survived and made certain that everyone knew she intended her kingdom to prosper once again now that the realm was safe.

News spread abroad of the miracle birds that 'ate' the zombie carcasses. First, American and Russian transport planes flew to Britain and were loaded with the meek creatures to be flown back to North America and the vastness of Russia, while Grifflers flew on their own wings to Ireland and to the continent. With cooperation from the British government, other nations sent passenger planes to fly Grifflers to all parts of the globe.

Across Europe, Russia, China, India, Africa, Asia, South America, North America, and Australia, the arrival of Grifflers saved humanity from extinction.

(++**++)

It was a full year later, in December 1994, that the British government ordered a census to be taken and every human was counted. In March 1995, No.10 Downing Street announced that just over ten million people survived in Great Britain. This made Britain one of the largest nations in the world only surpassed by Russia (fifteen million), USA (sixteen million), China (seventeen million) and Australia (eighteen million).

Once the last zombie corpse was consumed, most of the Grifflers 'dissolved away'. Of special note, any scientist who attempted to dissect a Griffler for study woke the following morning with an overwhelming revulsion to ever attempt such a study again. All muggle recordings and notes of such dissections were blurred and unreadable.

After the majority of Grifflers 'dissolved away', approximately thirty million of the birds remained and they nested near concentrations of human population. Now, whenever anyone died, their corpse would reanimate and try to restart the zombie apocalypse, but Grifflers always appeared within minutes of the death, to eat the corpse down to nothing but a few bones and ragged clothes.

Another full year passed before Magical Britain formed a skeleton government once again. In January 1996, the Ministry for Magic was established in an otherwise abandoned office tower in London, but unlike the previous ministry, this one functioned under strict controls and oversight by the 'mundane' government and the Crown. The Queen refused to grant the Wizards free reign and the new Wizengamot was an elected body that had to conform to British Common Law.

The first wizard to become Her Majesty's Minister for Magic in this new government was The Honourable Sirius Black. He immediately appointed Amelia Bones as the Director of the DMLE as it was rebuilt and once again important in Britain.

That May, in a private ceremony at Windsor Castle, still the official royal residence since the apocalypse, Queen Elizabeth knighted Sir Rubeus Hagrid, Royal Warlock, and gave him numerous honours for saving the world.

The former groundskeeper was most pleased to be confirmed as "Her Majesty's Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Magic and Wizardry". That year Harry Potter would begin his studies to become a warlock like his first friend, Rubeus Hagrid.

(++**++)

A little over a century after the 'Zombie Apocalypse', a smart graduate student (Harry's great-great-granddaughter) at Cambridge University composed a thesis on the creatures that saved mankind. In her final thesis, Potter 'estimated' that at the height of the plague, there were twenty-five billion Grifflers in the world.

(++**++)

"**While it remains a mystery how 'Griffler Hagridus' appeared so suddenly in Scotland during the first months of the plague, we know that the carrion eaters reproduced asexually in a geometric pattern; (i.e., each day a single Griffler consumed up to 25 kg of carrion and then divided into four individuals that immediately began to eat. The next day the Grifflers were full grown and sought new sources of carrion and repeated the process). With a voracious appetite and staggering numbers, the Grifflers rid the world of zombies. **

**In just thirteen days after consuming almost fifty million corpses in Britain in October 1993, there were 400,000 Grifflers in Britain. With the zombie population here under control, the majority of Grifflers took flight and went to France to repeat their geometric multiplication and consumption of dead people. Shipments of Grifflers occurred via aircraft to every continent and major island. In late February 1994 when flocks of Grifflers descended on India from east, north, and west, the sky was said to be 'dark for days' with the migrating carrion eaters. Population numbers for Grifflers are estimated at around 25 billion and in eight months, they consumed the flesh of eight billion zombies. Then all but a few Grifflers disappeared, again almost like magic. **

**This creature is the only reason that 'normal life' resumed. All mankind owes its existence to an almost magical event."**

**Lily Potter (b. 31Oct2088 - d._)**

"**Salvation from the Highlands"**

**Cambridge University December 2114 **

(++**++)

And that is how Rubeus Hagrid saved the world.

(++**++)


End file.
